GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 193

Within Certain Limits

US Could Be Coordinating With Iran

In a report from World News Daily we hear that the US was working with Iran on the scale of their attack before it even happened:

"Within certain limits."

That was the caution Joe Biden gave to Iran just before it attacked Israel with drones, missiles and more, essentially allowing the act of war, mounting evidence is revealing.

It was Reuters that reported just days ago a diplomatic source said Iran told Turkey about the plans to attack, and "Washington had conveyed to Tehran via Ankara that any action it took had to be 'within certain limits."

Reuters said the Turkish source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed "Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had spoken to both his U.S. and Iranian counterparts … to discuss the planned Iranian operation, adding Ankara had been made aware of possible developments."

The article goes on to mention how Turkey and America conversed over the Iranian strike:

The report continued, "Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Fidan to make clear that escalation in the Middle East was not in anyone's interest."

The source confirmed, "Iran informed us in advance of what would happen. Possible developments also came up during the meeting with Blinken, and they (the U.S.) conveyed to Iran through us that this reaction must be within certain limits."

Iran gave advance notice of their intentions and got approval to strike from America:

Now a report from Israel365News explains how Iranian officials "communicated their intent to launch a massive attack against Israel with the intention that this message be conveyed to the United States."

That report explained through those same diplomatic channels, "the U.S. conveyed its tacit assent" on one condition.

The report noted Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian also confirmed Iran gave neighboring countries and the United States 72 hours’ notice that it would launch the attack.

United States Denies The Reports

The WND report goes on to register that none of this actually happened:

Biden officials claimed Amirabdollahian was lying.

"That is absolutely not true," a senior Biden official, unidentified in the report, said. "They did not give a notification, nor did they give any sense of … 'these will be the targets, so evacuate them.'"

Israel365 reported one U.S. official said, "We received a message from the Iranians through the Swiss as this [attack] was ongoing. This was basically suggesting that they were finished after this, but it was still an ongoing attack. So that was (their) message to us."

While denying coordinating with Iran about the attack, the White House was quick to take credit for Israel’s successful defense against the attack:

It was only hours before the attack that Joe Biden went public with a comment that he would not divulge secrets, but he "expected" Iran to attack Israel "sooner, rather than later."

Biden then over the weekend, after the attack, dispatched State Department spokesman Matthew Miller to express pride that Biden "played a critical role" in preventing loss of lives.

However, the White House isn’t allowing Israel to mount a counter strike:

But Biden's permissions, according to the report, did not extend to saying Israel could respond to the attack.

Israeli officials have confirmed that will happen, but they are not publicizing details ahead of time.

The article then noted that the US administration played no part in the Iranian aggression and instead blamed the previous administration:

The report explained, "Despite the indications that the Biden administration had prior knowledge and given tacit permission for the attack, the White House blamed President Trump for Iranian aggression. On Sunday, White House national security communications spokesperson John Kirby gave an interview in which he blamed the previous administration for exiting the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran."

If the United States is indeed coordinating with Iran on what it can and can’t do against Israel, this is troubling to say the least. Telling an adversary of Israel they can attack is by itself a problem and a reason why Israel can’t trust any of these nations to help them across the finish line of defeating all terrorists around them.

Type Of Attack, Not Timing Decided

In a report from The Jerusalem Post we are told that the type of counter strike on Iran is decided, but the timing is not:

The IDF has decided how it will counter-strike Iran and its proxies but has not yet settled on the timing; multiple sources told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

Because the timing is still variable and because of all the necessary complex preparations, the current decision could change.

However, the very development of a decision shows the severity and determination of Israel’s leadership to strike back, though all indications are that Jerusalem still seeks to tamp down the attack to avoid spiraling into a regional war.

Part of the timing may be in part because of Passover or to maintain the element of surprise:

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi hinted that the timing of the attack was not very imminent during a visit to the Arrow air defense battery of Battalion 136.

He said, “We are enabling a home front policy to at least give citizens this Passover week to live almost like normal because we completely trust you and your readiness.”

It is also possible that Halevi, Home Front command policies, and other officials keeping their regular schedules are part of a clever fake-out to get Iran and its proxies to lower their guard.

But at least the plain reading of the relevant signals suggests that a major attack is not imminent in the coming days and could even be postponed for longer.

Possible options for the type of response are discussed:

Speculated options for an attack range from going big – striking Iranian nuclear facilities – to the middle of the road – striking drone or ballistic missile facilities that were directly involved in Iran’s strike – to more limited options – assassinating specific individuals or punishing IRGC officials abroad along with their accomplices; or a mix of some of the above with a large cyber attack.

Still, some signals indicated that the Air Force would be involved in an unusually significant target. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday said, “The Iranians failed in their attack, and they will fail to deter Israel. The skies of the Middle East are wide open for the [Israeli] air force. Every enemy that comes after us will be struck wherever they are.”

In another report, this one from CBN.com, other possibilities are seen:

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, warned, “Iran will face the consequences for its actions. We will choose our response accordingly.”

The question is how and when. Reserve Brigadier-General Amir Avivi with the Israel Defense and Security Forum told CBN News Israel presented plans for striking back, even before the attack.

"These plans really can be from, you know, cyberattacks to destroying nuclear plants, to completely wiping out the oil production of Iran, sinking their Navy – so many possibilities."

The Iranian Threat Could Get Bigger

Going back to the CBN.com report we read that the United States isn’t in favor of Israel striking Iran back:

Still, the White House continues to press Israel not to take retaliation too far.

"We don't want to see a war with Iran," said National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby. "We don't want to see a broader regional conflict. We will do what we have to do to defend Israel."

Biden stated, "We're committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and preventing conflict from spreading beyond what it already has."

However, rather than telling Israel to stand down, a coalition of nations may need to be involved in the counter offensive:

Avivi maintains that though Israel can hit Iran in many ways, something bigger is at stake. "One of the considerations is that Israel, of course, would rather see a build-up of a coalition," he said.

This time, that coalition included Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Jordan helped the massive effort that destroyed 99 percent of the drones and missiles aimed at Israel, and Saudi Arabia acknowledged its part in the coalition, blaming Iran for instigating the October 7th massacre to derail the normalizing of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. has used the long-term threat Shi'ite Iran poses, not just to Israel, but to Sunni Muslim nations, to build a Middle East alliance between Israel and those largely Sunni Muslim countries, many of whom came out with guns blazing this weekend.

This sounds good, but dealing with Iran down the road needs to also be considered:

Avivi pointed out the coalition countries understood they could be the next Iranian targets.

"When you are seeing ballistic missiles flying more than a thousand kilometers in 10 minutes towards Israel, they understand the next ballistic missiles can reach Europe. They will reach, also, the U.S. And in a year or two, they can be nuclear," Avivi emphasized.

He added, "So, we need to deal decisively with this threat from Iran and to really build a coalition that will be willing to pose a military threat and deal with these challenges."