Biden - Netanyahu summit: Will Israel attack Iran's nuclear facilities?

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the situation in the Middle East and Israel's impending counteroffensive against Iran following Tehran's recent attack with nearly 200 ballistic missiles.

The conversation, the first between the two leaders in a month and a half, led to conflicting reports about the coordination between the two governments regarding the war in the region.

Some reports suggest that Jerusalem did not inform Washington about how Israel plans to respond to Iran. Other reports indicate that the Israelis did take into account the Americans' request to avoid bombing Iranian nuclear and oil facilities, focusing instead on military and intelligence targets.

According to an analysis by the Israeli news portal Ynet, the most likely version seems to be that the Americans are unaware of Israel's plans regarding its counteroffensive against Iran.

A source familiar with the matter told ABC that the conversation, which also involved U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, focused mainly on the possible Israeli counteroffensive against Iran as well as Israel's plans regarding the future of the campaign against the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon.

The source added that despite tensions between the two administrations, the dialogue was amicable.

ABC reported that senior officials in Washington were relatively satisfied with the level of detail shared by Netanyahu. It seems that the Israeli prime minister had taken note of the Biden-Harris administration's request not to attack Iran's nuclear and oil facilities, as they believe this could result in a full-scale war, which they want to avoid.

However, CNN reported that Biden is frustrated with Netanyahu since the Israeli leader seems to be ignoring Washington's requests.

In addition, U.S. officials noted that Netanyahu appears to be trying to strengthen Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign ahead of the November elections.

In fact, before speaking with Biden, Netanyahu had a conversation with Trump, who congratulated the Israeli prime minister on his forceful operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria.

The official White House statement on Biden and Harris' conversation with Netanyahu

According to the official White House statement, during the conversation, Biden reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to Israel's security and condemned Iran's ballistic missile attack against the Jewish State.

He also stressed the need for a political agreement to allow Israeli and Lebanese citizens living near the border between the two countries to return to their homes. While reaffirming Israel's right to defend its population from Hezbollah attacks, he called for efforts to minimize harm to civilians, especially in the densely populated areas of Beirut, Lebanon's capital.

The White House added that the dialogue also addressed the need to resume negotiations to free hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. It added that Biden called for restoring access to the north of the Strip to improve the humanitarian situation for Gazans.

The unexpected postponement of the Israeli defense minister's trip to the U.S.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was scheduled to visit the United States this Wednesday after Washington invited him to attend the talks on the situation in the Middle East. However, his trip was postponed, a decision that surprised the Americans.

As reported by Ynet, Netanyahu had set two conditions for Gallant's visit to the United States: a meeting with President Biden and approval from the Israeli war cabinet for the upcoming operations against Iran.

Gallant is expected to schedule his visit for after the Day of Atonement, which begins this Friday and ends this Saturday.