A worried Washington prods Israel to define its military objectives
CBC
As Israel prepares to expand its Gaza campaign, it has Washington's worried voice in its ear, pushing it to define its objectives.
It's a reflection of Americans' fears they could be pulled into a spiralling Mideast conflict by any missteps in the coming days.
Biden administration officials confirm that they've been urging their ally to contemplate a series of potential outcomes as Israel prepares an anticipated ground offensive.
White House spokesman John Kirby on Monday was using the terminology of preparing for complex and unpredictable situations.
"We are asking [Israel] what their answers are to the kinds of questions that any military ought to be asking itself, as it conducts operations," Kirby told reporters.
"'Have you thought through the branches?'" — meaning, unintended consequences.
"'Have you thought through the sequels?'" — that is, not the immediate aftermath, but what comes later.
"We are in active conversation with them about that," he said.
The U.S. is more concerned about the Israeli war plan than it lets on in public, according to a succession of stories in The New York Times.
The Times reports that U.S. President Joe Biden and senior aides have urged Israel to delay moving into Gaza to buy time for hostage negotiations.
That's atop another report describing U.S. concerns about a push from Israel's defence minister with the potential to drastically escalate the war.
The paper said Yoav Gallant has been urging for a pre-emptive strike against Iran's powerful Lebanon-based proxy militia Hezbollah, without success as the U.S. and others in the Israeli government warn against it.
Meanwhile a Times columnist with connections to Biden, Thomas Friedman, repeated that the U.S. president has been urging his Israeli allies to see beyond their immediate rage and think three steps ahead.
He wrote that Biden has failed to persuade the Netanyahu government to think through the potential implications of a ground offensive without, at least, offering residents of Gaza any hope of a better political future without Hamas.