‘Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised US President Donald Trump‘for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively’ to eliminate an Iranian general in a missile strike.
As he boarded a flight home after cutting short a visit to Greece, he said: ‘Just as Israel has the right of self-defence, the United States has exactly the same right.’
Mr Trump sanctioned the strike that took out General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
Israel put its military on heightened alert today and Netanyahu cut short a trip abroad after the US killing drew promises of revenge from Iran.
Israel, the US’s closest ally in the Middle East and Iran’s top regional enemy, has not publicly responded to the death of Quds Force chief Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in the US air strike in Baghdad.
But Netanyahu’s office confirmed he would return home early from Greece.
Israel’s Army Radio said the military was on heightened alert and Defence Minister Naftali Bennett met military and intelligence chiefs for a ‘situational assessment’.
Members of Netanyahu’s security cabinet have been asked not to comment on the high-profile killings, which Israeli media interpreted as a bid to stave off retaliation from Iran’s proxies and allies in the region.’
