WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Biden administration says there is a significant difference between Israeli actions that have expanded its war against the Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah and\u00a0Iran\u2019s retaliatory missile attack against Israel, which it condemned as escalatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In carefully calibrated remarks, officials across the administration are defending the\u00a0surge in attacks by Israel\u00a0against Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon, while still pressing for peace and vowing retribution after Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Joe Biden praised the U.S. and Israel militaries for\u00a0defeating the barrage\u00a0and warned, \u201cMake no mistake, the United States is fully, fully supportive of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the\u00a0Iranian missile attack\u00a0\u201ctotally unacceptable, and the entire world should condemn it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was little criticism that Israel may have provoked Iran\u2019s assault. \u201cObviously, this is a significant escalation by Iran,\u201d national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just a week after calling urgently for an\u00a0immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah\u00a0to avoid the possibility of all-out war in the Middle East, the administration has shifted its message as Israel presses ahead with\u00a0ground incursions in Lebanon\u00a0following a massive airstrike Friday in Beirut that killed\u00a0Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah\u00a0and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. officials stress that they have repeatedly come out in support of Israel\u2019s right to defend itself and that any change in their language only reflects evolving conditions on the ground. And, officials say the administration\u2019s goal \u2014 a cease-fire \u2014 has remained constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. has been quick to praise and defend Israel for a series of\u00a0recent strikes killing Hezbollah leaders. In contrast to its repeated criticism of\u00a0Israel\u2019s war in Gaza\u00a0that has killed civilians, the U.S. has taken a different tack on strikes that targeted Nasrallah and others but also\u00a0may have killed innocent people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Pentagon, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder made it clear that while the U.S. is still \u201claser focused\u201d on preventing a\u00a0wider conflict in the Middle East, he carved out broad leeway for Israel to keep going after Hezbollah to protect itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe understand and support Israel\u2019s right to defend itself against Hezbollah,\u201d Ryder said. \u201cWe understand that part of that is dismantling some of the attack infrastructure that Hezbollah has built along the border.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the U.S. is going to consult with Israel as it conducts limited operations against Hezbollah positions along the border \u201cthat can be used to threaten Israeli citizens.\u201d The goal, he said, is to allow citizens on both sides of the border to\u00a0return to their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of the ongoing discussions that the U.S. will have with Israel, Ryder said, will focus on making sure there\u2019s an understanding about potential \u201cmission creep\u201d that could lead to tensions to escalate even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday that Israel\u2019s targeting of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders as well as its initiation of ground incursions into Lebanon are justified because they were done in self-defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you look at the actions that they have taken, they were bringing terrorists to justice, terrorists who have launched attacks on Israeli civilians,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By contrast, he said that Iran\u2019s response was dangerous and escalatory because it was done in support of Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are\u00a0U.S.-designated terrorist organizations\u00a0that Iran funds and supports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat you saw (was) Iran launching a state-on-state attack to protect and defend the terrorist groups that it built, nurtured and controlled,\u201d Miller said. \u201cSo there is a difference between the actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The full-throated defense of Israel, however, may come with risks. So far, there is little evidence that the Biden administration\u2019s push for a cease-fire and warnings of broadening the conflict have had much impact on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In commentary Monday, Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that\u00a0U.S. influence on Netanyahu seems to be waning\u00a0and that he \u201cseems to have blown by U.S. cautions about starting a regional war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House must \u201cworry that a sustained inability to make diplomatic progress weakens U.S. influence in the Middle East and around the world,\u201d Alterman said, adding that \u201cNetanyahu\u2019s assurance that the United States will stand by Israel in any circumstance emboldens Israel to take more risks than it otherwise would.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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