As concerns about a potential attack from Iran grow in light of the July 31st assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Israel is escalating its showdown with the Islamic Republic by demanding that its allies, Britain and France, publicly state their support for any offensive operations against Iran if it attacks.
Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, made this bold statement during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné. This move may be seen as somewhat risky given that neither the UK nor France has openly proclaimed their readiness to launch direct attacks on Iran.
In making his request, Katz invoked the example of the United States, stating that “Israel expects France and Britain to publicly clarify to Iran that it is unacceptable for it to attack Israel and that if Iran attacks, the US-led coalition will join Israel not only in defense but also in an attack against significant targets in Iran.
However, it remains unclear whether even Washington has signed onto this stance. The Pentagon has recently moved significant assets, including an aircraft carrier strike group and submarine, into regional waters. When Iran fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones on Israel on April 13, US fighter jets helped intercept many of the incoming projectiles. American warships also engaged inbound missiles. Nevertheless, US involvement was limited to defense, with no direct counterstrikes on targets inside Iran occurring. France and the UK participated in this purely defensive operation as well.
Katz emphasized that “Israel cannot not respond strongly to attacks on it,” suggesting that he assumes the US will partner Israel in any potential retaliation. However, Israeli media later reported that Katz’s message had been softened in the official readout from the meeting, produced by the Israeli foreign ministry. The English-language statement omitted the sentence about needing to retaliate.
I thanked them for their support of Israel and made it clear that the right way to deter Iran and prevent war is by announcing that if Iran attacks, they will stand with Israel not only in defense but also in striking targets in Iran.” Despite these statements, the US and its Western allies have so far limited their aggressive actions against Iran to strikes on Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen amid the ongoing Red Sea shipping crisis.
Katz’s comments appear to be an attempt to gauge how far Israel’s Western partners are willing to go in supporting any potential Israeli retaliation. It is likely that his call for the US and its allies to take a more aggressive stance against Iran will meet resistance, at least behind closed doors, within the White House, State Department, and Pentagon.