Axios wrote that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had laid out plans to U.S. President Joe Biden for the coming counter-attack against the Gaza-based Hamas terror organization, which is responsible for a series of attacks on Oct. 7 that have so far killed 900, wounded thousands and taken as many as 163 men, women and children hostage.
Netanyahu reportedly told Biden: “We have to go in.”
The Israeli leader justified the decision by saying that the Jewish state had to respond with force; that it could not be perceived as weak in the Middle East; and that it needed “to restore deterrence.”
In response, Biden reportedly did not press Netanyahu for details or attempt to change his mind.
According to Axios, the president also spoke with the prime minister about the Israeli hostages and the threat of a second military front opening on its northern border with Lebanon. Netanyahu agreed with the danger of an attack from the north posed by Hezbollah and said the government was preparing for such a contingency.
