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Published December 24, 2023, 2:00 p.m. ET
President Biden convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the last minute to cancel a planned attack against Hezbollah days after the Oct. 7 massacre because he feared it would spark a war across the region, a new report says.
Allegedly, on October 11, when Biden spoke to Netanyahu about the consequences of such a pre-emptive attack, Israel had warplanes waiting for the order to attack the Lebanese terrorist group and attack its troops along the Lebanese border, as American intelligence had no indications of an impending one Hezbollah's invasion took place. The Wall Street Journal reported this on Sunday.
Israeli officials were said to be nervous following Hamas' massacre of more than 1,200 people in Israel on October 7. The country's own intelligence network suggested that a repeat of the attack by Palestinian terrorist allies in Lebanon was imminent.
But Biden is believed to have persuaded Netanyahu and his war cabinet to take a more measured approach rather than risk all-out war in both Gaza and Lebanon, sources told the Journal.
The US was informed of Israel's alleged plan against Hezbollah after the Jewish state asked American officials for assistance in stopping Hezbollah's alleged invasion.
President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are meeting a week after their alleged Oct. 11 phone call about a possible Hezbollah attack. via Portal Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday. via Portal
Biden's phone call with Israeli officials on the issue lasted 45 minutes, in which he tried to warn them about the consequences of a preemptive strike based on conflicting reports. Sources claimed that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had reportedly pushed for the green light for the attack as “a major war was inevitable.”
According to the magazine, when alarm sirens sounded in Israel and Israeli forces were ordered to prepare for an attack on Lebanon, it took about six hours for Netanyahu and his war cabinet to agree to call off the attack.
But Netanyahu on Sunday denied claims that Biden had stopped him from attacking Hezbollah, saying Israel makes its own decisions and is not influenced by the advice of foreign nations.
Conflicts and tensions between Israel and Hezbollah remain heated as supporters of the terror group stage parades in support of Palestinian Hamas terrorists. Getty Images A man is injured in rocket fire between the IDF and Hezbollah. Xinhua/Shutterstock
“I have seen erroneous reports that the US has and continues to prevent us from taking operational action in the region. That's wrong. “Israel is a sovereign state,” Netanyahu said. “Our decisions in war are based on our operational considerations.
“They are not dictated by external pressure. The decision on how to use our forces is an independent decision of the Israel Defense Forces and no one else,” he added.
The prime minister's office said in a statement that Israel's plan was always to achieve a victory over Hamas in the south while working toward a “fierce deterrent in the north” against Hezbollah.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment on Sunday.
President Biden has repeatedly called on Israel to avoid war across the region as it battles Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. AP
Since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted, the United States has been working to prevent the same outcome between the Jewish state and its northern neighbor, even as the IDF and Hezbollah fire rocket fire almost daily.
The Iran-backed terror group operating in Lebanon has vowed to continue its attacks against Israel over the IDF's bombings and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
On Saturday, Israel said it had struck several Hezbollah-linked targets along the Lebanese border, a day after the terror group killed an IDF soldier in the heated conflict.
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