WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has advised Israel against striking Iran’s oil facilities, adding he was trying to rally the world to evade the escalating prospect of all-out war in the Middle East.
But Donald Trump, currently campaigning for another term in power, went so far as to suggest Israel should “hit” Iran’s nuclear sites. President Biden said that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should remember” Washington’s support for Israel when taking decision on next steps.
“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking regarding other alternatives than attacking oil fields,” President Biden told reporters, when asked regarding his remarks a day earlier that the US was discussing the possibility of such attacks with its ally.
Biden said that the Israelis “have not concluded how they are, what they are going to do” in retaliation for a ballistic missile strike by Iran on Israel on Tuesday.
Any long-term increase could be damaging for Kamala Harris as the Democrat confronts Donald Trump in a November 5 race where the cost of living is a major problem.
Meanwhile Donald Trump, campaigning in Carolina, offered a far more provocative view of what he thinks a reply to Tehran should be, referencing a question posed to President Biden this week about the possibility of Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear program.
“When they asked him that question, the answer should have been, hit the nuclear first, and worry about the rest later,” Trump said.
Donald Trump has spoken little regarding the recent escalation in tensions in the Middle East. But he issued a scathing remarks this week, holding President Biden and Vice President Harris responsible for the crisis.
It comes at a tense situation as he prepares to leave office with the Mideast situation boiling over and political criticism at home over his handling of a recent hurricane that struck the United States southeast.
President Biden said he was doing his best to avoid a complete conflagration in the region, where Israel is bombing Lebanon in a bid to wipe out the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah.
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He told the reports that the main thing that we could do is try to rally the rest of the world and their allies into participating to tamp this down. He said, “But when you have Iranian proxies as illogical as Hezbollah and the Houthis … it is a hard thing to govern.”
President Biden, however had tough words for Israeli Prime Minister, with whom he has had rocky ties as he seeks to manage Israel’s reply after the October 7 Hamas strikes on Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister has ignored Biden’s calls for restraint on Lebanon, and on Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 40,000 Palestinians.
President Biden bounced a question on whether he believed Netanyahu was hanging back on signing a Middle East peace agreement in a bid to influence the American presidential polls. “No administration has helped Israel more than I have. And I think Bibi should remember that,” President Biden said.
“And whether he is attempting to influence the election, I don’t know, but I’m not counting on that.”
President Biden said that he had still not spoken to Israeli Prime Minister since the Iranian attack, which involved around 200 missiles, but said their teams were in “constant contact.”
Tehran said that its attack was in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah has been launching attacks at Israel since shortly after the October 7, 2023 assaults.
