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Joe Biden condemned Iran’s “unprecedented” drone and missile attacks on Israel on Saturday evening, calling for a coordinated diplomatic response from the G7 to Tehran’s “brazen” assault.
Biden said the U.S. military helped Israel shoot down “almost all of the incoming drones and missiles” launched by Iran and its proxies in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said US forces “remain positioned to protect American troops and partners in the region, provide additional defense support to Israel, and strengthen regional stability.”
The US president spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening to “reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment” to his ally’s security. Biden said he would also convene G7 leaders on Sunday to “coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.”
“I told him that Israel has demonstrated a remarkable ability to defend itself and defeat even unprecedented attacks, sending a clear message to its enemies that they cannot effectively threaten Israel’s security,” Biden said.
In recent days the United States had moved two ballistic missile defense destroyers, the USS Arleigh Burke and the USS Carney – one of which was already in the region – in anticipation of the attack.
The president, who was briefed Saturday in the White House Situation Room alongside his top national security, defense and intelligence officials, said no American forces or facilities were hit in the attack.
The Israeli government separately confirmed that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had spoken to Austin. In a post on the social media site X, Gallant thanked the US administration “for courageously supporting Israel.”
Saturday’s Iranian attack came at a delicate moment in US-Israel relations, after weeks of friction between Netanyahu and Biden over the growing civilian death toll from Israel’s war against Hamas.
Earlier this month, Biden told Netanyahu that further US support for the war in Gaza would depend on Israel’s efforts to address humanitarian suffering in the enclave.
The United States has also repeatedly sought to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from spreading into a regional conflict.
Saturday’s attack could also have consequences in the US Congress, where a bill providing billions of dollars in additional aid for Israel and Ukraine, already approved in the Senate, is blocked in the House of Representatives due to Republican opposition .
On Saturday, the Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, urged Mike Johnson, the House Republican leader, to hold a vote on the bill without delay.
“We cannot hope to deter conflict without demonstrating resolve and seriously investing in American strength,” McConnell said Saturday. “The commander in chief and Congress must fulfill our critical duties without delay. The consequences of failure are clear, devastating and avoidable.”
Steve Scalise, the House Republican leader, said the lower chamber will quickly consider legislation that supports our ally Israel and holds Iran and its terrorist proxies accountable.
Details on the new legislation, however, are scarce, and it is unclear whether the House will accept a version of the existing bill or a new, more targeted aid package for Israel, excluding Ukraine.
Donald Trump, running for re-election in this year’s presidential race, told a crowd at a campaign rally Saturday night that Israel was attacked because the United States had shown “great weakness.”
This “wouldn’t have happened if we were in office,” he told the crowd in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. “I will avoid World War III.”
Additional reporting by Derek Brower in Schnecksville