Report: Israel is deliberating over timing of response to Iran’s attack, not the method

Israel has made a decision: Iran’s unprecedented attack on the Jewish state, with more than 350 drones and missiles, will not go unanswered.

One day later, on Tuesday, after IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi announced that the assault would "be met with a response,” Ynet News reported that discussions are still underway regarding the timing of the response.

Ynet quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying: “Israel is determined to react, but also wishes to avoid a war and not to lose the wide international support it has gained – the lack of which was evidently felt in recent months.”

While Israel’s security leadership supports a “clear and decisive” response, some officials believe a delayed one would be a mistake.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did not convene the War Cabinet on Tuesday, however, deliberations continued in various other forums, according to the report.

Netanyahu spoke on the phone with his British counterpart, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, after the United Kingdom helped in repelling the Iranian aerial attack on Israel early on Sunday morning.

Sunak reiterated the UK’s support for Israel’s security and said Iran had “badly miscalculated and was increasingly isolated on the global stage, with the G7 coordinating a diplomatic response.”

Following the call, he wrote on 𝕏: “Further significant escalation will only deepen instability in the region. This is a moment for calm heads to prevail.”

The United States has also urged calm and expressed a desire to see a de-escalation in the region, however, the Biden administration so far refrained from publicly telling Israel how to act, with officials underscoring that it is Israel’s decision to make.

U.S. State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said in a briefing on Tuesday that Israel did not inform Washington about any potential planned response to the Iranian regime's direct attack on Israeli.

Miller also noted that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz.

Blinken reportedly reiterated America's steadfast support for Israel’s security to Gantz and conveyed a similar message regarding Washington's perspective on a retaliation.