The premier thanked the visitors for their
“unequivocal support” in the wake of Iran’s weekend attack. He also
“insisted that Israel preserve the right to self-defense,” the Prime
Minister’s Office said.
Overnight Saturday, Iran launched more than 500 missiles and drones at Israel. The IDF said it and its military allies intercepted some 99% of the projectiles; none of the 170 drones entered Israel’s airspace.
Western governments have called on Israel
to refrain from retaliating against Tehran, fearing the expansion of
regional war. The United States has reportedly told Israel it will not participate in a military response.
Ahead of Cameron’s arrival, Netanyahu on
Tuesday spoke by phone with his U.K. counterpart Rishi Sunak for the
first time since the attack.
According to Downing Street’s readout,
Sunak “stressed that significant escalation was in no one’s interest and
would only deepen insecurity in the Middle East. This was a moment for
calm heads to prevail.”
Cameron told journalists in Jerusalem on
Wednesday that “it’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act,”
adding that London hopes “they do so in a way that does as little to
escalate this as possible.”
“It’s right to be here in Israel today to
show solidarity after that appalling attack by Iran. We made clear our
views yesterday about what should happen next. But we also said Israel
is an independent sovereign country and gets to make these choices,” the
diplomat told Sky News.
He added, “We continue to hope that as
they do so, they do so in a way that is smart as well as tough, but also
does as little as possible to escalate this conflict.”
Parallel to Cameron’s visit, Baerbock
arrived in Israel for meetings with Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Israel
Katz and other senior officials.
Berlin announced that talks would “focus, in particular, on preventing the spiral of violence from escalating unabated.”
Baerbock said on Wednesday that she made
clear in discussions that the region must not be allowed to slide into a
scenario with an outcome that is completely unpredictable, Deutsche Welle reported.
“Everyone must now act prudently and
responsibly. I am not talking about giving in, I am talking about
prudent restraint,” said Baerbock before taking off from Ben-Gurion
International Airport to attend a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in
Italy to discuss new sanctions on Iran.
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