During a visit to the Pentagon on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged the US to continue cooperating against “Iran and its proxies” after the Joint Chiefs of Staff suggested support for Hezbollah remained unlikely in the event of all-out war with Israel.
“The President, the Administration and the Secretary of State have been with us since day one,” Gallant said in a statement issued by his office after the meeting. “This includes working together to defend Israel against major attacks by Iran and its proxies.”
“Today, we stand at a crossroads that will affect the entire Middle East,” Gallant continued, “and I am here to discuss how we can achieve our shared goal of ensuring the security of the State of Israel and building strong ties between our two nations.”
Israeli officials warned last week of the possibility of all-out war with Hezbollah, saying the two sides were “on the brink”, and an IDF spokesman blamed “Hezbollah attacks” for pushing the two sides to such a desperate situation.
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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, listen to the Israeli national anthem being played during an arrival ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Susan Walsh/The Associated Press)
Both Gallant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “committed to the diplomatic process,” but Netanyahu insisted any agreement would only be reached “on our terms.”
“We will do what is necessary,” Netanyahu said. “I can assure the Israeli people that if we are called upon to rise to this challenge, we will respond. We are able and prepared to fight on multiple fronts.”
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Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah delivered a televised address at the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemoration rally in the southern outskirts of Beirut on April 5, 2024. (Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images)
But Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown warned this week that the United States was unlikely to back Israel in an all-out war with Hezbollah, out of concern that U.S. intervention would make Iran “more inclined to support Hezbollah.”
The Associated Press reported. Brown also expressed concern that if the conflict spread to Lebanon, it could ultimately spark a broader conflict and put U.S. troops at risk.
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On June 13, 2024, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr. attended a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. (REUTERS/Joanna Geron/File Photo)
“Think about the second-order effects of any kind of operation into Lebanon. Think about how that would play out and how it would impact not only the region but our forces that are in the region,” Brown was quoted as saying.
Gallant stressed in a statement on Tuesday that Iran “represents the greatest threat to the future of the world, and time is running out.”
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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, meets with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, second from left, at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Susan Walsh/The Associated Press)
“Now is the time to deliver on the long-standing commitments of successive US administrations to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” Gallant said. “Above all, we need to talk about the great bond between our two countries — leveraging our strength together, discussing our differences as friends, and standing strong together against attacks from missile attacks to diplomatic attacks on the world stage.”
The US and Israel have agreed to hold a Strategic Consultative Group meeting on Iran in mid-July, where the two countries will assess their strategy regarding Tehran, Axios journalist Barak Ravid wrote on social media platform X.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
