According to the Wall Street Journal, US President Joe Biden convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt a planned preemptive strike against Hezbollah four days after Hamas’ October 7 terror attack.
“Israel had intelligence that the Iranian proxy group was preparing to cross the border as part of a multipronged attack,” said the WSJ, adding that Washington considered Israel’s intelligence unreliable. According to the report, “Biden warned Netanyahu — while warplanes were in the air awaiting orders — that such a move could start a wider war in the region.”
According to the Israeli media, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the WSJ report was “incorrect.” “On the first day of the war, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that Israel would first work to achieve a decisive victory in the south while deterring an attack in the north,” said the Times of Israel, quoting Netanyahu’s office, adding that “this policy was adopted by the [war] cabinet.”
