White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said on Sunday that the decision on how to respond to Iran’s missile strike on Saturday would be up to Israel.
Kirby was asked what the Biden administration would advise Israeli leaders to do during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” The security adviser said the ball is in Israel’s court “to decide what the next step is here.”
“I will just say this: President Biden — since the beginning of this conflict — has worked very hard to keep this from becoming a broader regional war, to keep the tensions from escalating,” Kirby said. “Everything he’s done, everything he’s moved in the region, every decision, every discussion that he’s had is all designed to not let this become a broader regional war, and that’s where his head is still.”
On Saturday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched dozens of missiles and drones at Israel, the “vast majority” of which were intercepted outside of the country.
During the interview on Sunday, Kirby was pressed over the Biden administration’s criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and whether the US would manage Israel’s response to Iran.
“I think we’re going to have to wait and see what the Israelis decide to do. I don’t know. I’ve been around allies and alliances my whole professional life, and I can’t think of a single one where, if it’s a real alliance, where you can’t have honest conversations with one another every now and then and take issue with the way something might be done,” he said.
He continued, affirming the United States is a “good friend” of Israel and that the country won’t turn its back on its long-standing ally.
“But the other thing we’re not bashful about, and certainly President Biden’s not been bashful about, is making sure that when we say we’re going to help Israel defend itself, my goodness, we’re going to. We’re going to put something behind that, and we did that last night,” Kirby said.