Israel reserves ‘right to protect itself’ after Iran attack: Netanyahu

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday his country will decide how to respond to Iran’s unprecedented attack as world leaders called for restraint to avoid escalation.

The Israeli military has vowed to respond to Iran’s missile and drone weekend attack, prompting a diplomatic flurry aiming to calm a region already on the edge due to the Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza since October 7.

Washington and Brussels have pledged to ramp up sanctions against Iran, while British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock became the first Western envoys to visit Israel after the attack.

Netanyahu told the visiting ministers that Israel “will reserve the right to protect itself,” his office said.

The pair offered “all kinds of suggestions and advice” during a meeting, Netanyahu said. “However, I would also like to clarify: we will make our decisions ourselves.”

For his part, Cameron said that “we’re very anxious to avoid escalation and to say to our friends in Israel: It’s a time to think with head as well as heart.”

Baerbock emphasised that “the region must not slide into a situation whose outcome is completely unpredictable.”

Tehran has vowed to hit back if its arch foe Israel responds to the Saturday attack, which itself was launched in retaliation to a deadly strike on Iran’s Damascus consulate building earlier this month.