Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is denying a Monday Washington Post report which sent oil prices sliding and which painted a picture of President Biden using diplomatic finesse to ensure Israel won't strike Iran's nuclear or oil sites.
"We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests," Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday, as cited in Bloomberg. The new report notes that Israeli is merely "weighing US misgivings" and has committed to nothing concrete regarding strike plans.
This is widely being taken as a clear denial of the main substance of the prior WaPo report, which stated Monday afternoon that "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Biden administration he is willing to strike military rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran" - citing two unnamed officials.
In the wake of the Washington Post headline West Texas Intermediate fell to near $70 a barrel, sliding as much as 5%, with Brent futures slumping below $74.
The Washington Post had chalked up a recent Biden-Netanyahu call as a win for Biden diplomacy:
Netanyahu was in a "more moderated place" in that discussion than he had previously been, said the U.S. official, describing the call between the two leaders.
The apparent softening of the prime minister’s stance factored into Biden’s decision to send a powerful missile defense system to Israel, both officials said.
But Bloomberg is now referencing the same report as precisely that which Netanyahu is denying. Bloomberg writes:
A report in the Washington Post said the Israeli premier had agreed to limit his retaliation for an Oct. 1 Iranian ballistic missile salvo to military targets. The newspaper cited two officials familiar with the matter who it didn’t identify.
Such a decision might not sit well with more hard-line Israelis. "We have an opportunity to cut off the head of the snake," far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told Army Radio, in reference to Iran. He declined to give details on closed-door cabinet deliberations.
As we highlighted in our prior coverage, there remain plenty of hawks in Bibi's security cabinet who are urging Israel to go big in its response. It is also the case that Netanyahu has been talking about taking out Iran's nuclear program for many years at this point.
"Never had a greener light"...
On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reiterated that Israel's response to Iran will be "soon, accurate, and lethal" - as cited in Al Arabiya.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has said that an initial THAAD missile system has reached Israeli and will soon be fully operational, complete with US service members manning it. The Monday WaPo report had strongly suggested that Biden's offer of the THAAD missile defense system is ultimately what resulted in Netanyahu's vow to not hit oil or nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic (a quid pro quo of sorts) - a claim which is now being shown as dubious.