Israeli media reported on Sunday that the Biden administration has offered Israel a “compensation package” in exchange for refraining from attacks on a list of specific targets in Iran.
“The package would include a total guarantee of comprehensive diplomatic protection as well as a weapons package and was offered directly in return for holding off on striking certain targets in Iran,” said a report from Israel’s Kan11 news cited by the Jerusalem Post.
“An American official said, ‘If you don’t hit targets A, B, C, we will provide you with diplomatic protection and an arms package,’” said Kan11’s Amichai Stein.
According to Stein, the Israeli government was somewhat cool to the proposal, although it remains in active consultation with the U.S. government and military about its response to Iran’s missile attack last week.
“Israeli officials responded saying, ‘We consider the United States and listen to them. But we will do anything and everything we can to protect the citizens and the security of the State of Israel,’” said Stein.
Iran launched over 180 missiles at Israel last Tuesday night, ostensibly in response to Israel killing Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The attack was more effective than Iran’s completely intercepted April missile and drone attack on Israel, but still failed to inflict significant damage or casualties, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei nevertheless pinned a medal on Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, aerospace commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on Sunday. Khamenei has declared the missile attack a “brilliant” success.
During a visit to Qatar last week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed the “decisive” Iranian attack was a “legitimate response to Israel’s ongoing crimes.”
Pezeshkian has also said the attack was a “great source of pride” for Iran, and proof that Israel’s vaunted missile defenses are “more fragile than glass.”
Pezeshkian and other Iranian officials have said Iran will not attack Israel again – unless Israel retaliates, in which case Iran will launch an “unconventional response” targeting Israeli infrastructure.
Israeli retaliation seems highly likely and, while the Biden administration prevailed upon Israel to do nothing after the completely ineffective April attack, this time the Biden team is evidently scrambling to limit Israel’s response instead of completely blocking it.
On Friday, President Joe Biden specifically asked Israel to refrain from attacking Iran’s oil fields.
“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields,” Biden said during a rare and uncomfortable White House press conference.
Just a few days previously, Biden hinted that strikes on Iran’s oil fields were on the table, causing worldwide oil prices to spike.
“I know not to negotiate in public,” Biden snapped when criticized for sending oil markets into a spin, even though he had just done exactly that.
Biden has also publicly asked Israel not to hit Iran’s nuclear facilities or its covert nuclear missile program, for which he was derided by former president and 2024 candidate Donald Trump.
“They asked him, what do you think about Iran, would you hit Iran? And he goes, ‘As long as they don’t hit the nuclear stuff.’ That’s the thing you want to hit, right?” Trump said at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Friday.
“I think he’s got that one wrong. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to hit?” Trump said. “I mean, it’s the biggest risk we have, nuclear weapons. When they asked him that question, the answer should have been, hit the nuclear first, and worry about the rest later.”
