With Israel and Hezbollah pressing for a ceasefire, the Biden administration is changing its message

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says there is a significant difference between Israel’s actions that have expanded its war against the Iran-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran’s retaliatory missile attack on Israel, which it has condemned as escalatory.

In carefully crafted remarks, officials across the administration defended Israel’s increase in attacks on Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon while pressing for peace and vowing revenge after Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden praised the U.S. and Israeli militaries for overcoming the barrier and warned: “Make no mistake, the United States fully, fully supports Israel.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Iranian missile attack “completely unacceptable and should be condemned by the entire world.”

There was no criticism that Israel could have provoked Iran’s attack. “Clearly, this is a significant escalation by Iran,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Just a week after urgently calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to avoid the possibility of all-out war in the Middle East, the administration has changed its message as Israel continues ground attacks in Lebanon following a massive airstrike Friday in Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Gen. Abbas Nilforushan of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

U.S. officials emphasize that they have repeatedly upheld Israel’s right to defend itself and that any change in their language only reflects changing conditions on the ground. Officials say the administration’s goal – a ceasefire – remains unchanged.

The United States was quick to praise and defend Israel for a series of recent attacks that killed Hezbollah leaders. In contrast to repeated criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed civilians, the United States has taken a different tack with attacks that targeted Nasrallah and others but may also have killed innocent people.

At the Pentagon, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder made clear that while the United States was still “laser focused” on preventing a broader conflict in the Middle East, he had left Israel wide room to maneuver to continue pursuing Hezbollah to protect itself.

“We understand and support Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah,” Ryder said. “We understand that part of this is dismantling some of the attack infrastructure that Hezbollah has built along the border.”

He said the United States intends to consult with Israel as it conducts limited operations against Hezbollah positions along the border “that could be used to threaten Israeli citizens.” The goal, he said, is to allow citizens on both sides of the border to return home.

Ryder said part of the ongoing talks the U.S. will have with Israel will focus on making sure there is an understanding of the potential for “mission creep” that could lead to even greater escalation of tensions.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday that Israeli attacks on senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, as well as initiating ground incursions into Lebanon, were justified because they were aimed at self-defense.

“If you look at the actions they took, they were bringing justice to terrorists who carried out attacks on Israeli civilians,” Miller said.

In contrast, he said Iran’s response was dangerous and escalatory because it was undertaken in support of Hamas and Hezbollah, which are U.S.-designated terrorist organizations that finance and support Iran.

“You saw Iran conduct a state-on-state attack to protect and defend the terrorist groups it built, nurtured and controlled,” Miller said. “So there is a difference between actions.”

However, fully defending Israel may involve risks. So far, there is little indication that the Biden administration’s push for a ceasefire and warning against expanding the conflict has had much impact on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In comments Monday, Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that U.S. influence over Netanyahu appears to be waning and that he “seems to have been blown away by U.S. warnings about starting a regional war.”

The White House must “worry that the continued inability to make diplomatic progress will weaken U.S. influence in the Middle East and around the world,” Alterman said, adding that “Netanyahu’s assurance that the United States will stand with Israel under all circumstances emboldens Israel to take greater risks than it otherwise would have.”

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Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.