Israel’s defense minister has postponed a planned visit to Washington, where he was scheduled to meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as the two countries discuss how to respond to Iran’s massive ballistic missile attack last week.
The Pentagon confirmed the delay in a briefing Tuesday, saying the Israeli Defense Ministry shared the news without offering a reason or an alternative date.
“Secretary [of Defense Lloyd] Austin looks forward to seeing him soon,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said, later noting that Gallant first sought the visit.
Axios reported that Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, has been told by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to visit until the White House schedules a call with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Austin and Gallant last spoke Sunday on the eve of Oct. 7, the anniversary of Hamas’ attack into Israel that killed 1,200 people and took hundreds more as hostages.
“The two leaders talk frequently by phone, so this in-person visit provides the opportunity to continue their ongoing discussions in more depth,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday.
Singh said the delay wasn’t a sign of strife between Austin and Gallant.
“There’s nothing that can’t be discussed over the phone that can be discussed in person,” she said.
The most urgent issue in the region is how Jerusalem will now respond to an attack from Iran last week, which lobbed almost 200 ballistic missiles into central and southern Israel. American destroyers fired around a dozen missiles to help intercept incoming fires during the barrage, which American officials called “failed and ineffective.”
The U.S. has since been speaking with Israel about how to respond, though the Pentagon won’t say what those discussions look like or what targets it’s recommending. Biden said last week he would not support an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Such a strike could augur the kind of larger regional conflict that America is already struggling to contain, as Israel expands its incursion into southern Lebanon, where it’s fighting the Iran-backed militia group Hezbollah.
The Pentagon has publicly urged parties in the region to stop escalating, though it’s not clear whether Israel will now listen. It didn’t tell the U.S. ahead of time about an attack on Hezbollah’s pagers, which injured thousands, nor about a strike on Beirut that killed the group’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
“It’s obvious that they haven’t taken every bit of advice that I’ve provided,” Austin told a group of traveling reporters, including Defense News, last week. “But I recognize that they’re going to do things their way.”
