US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to have a phone conversation to discuss potential responses to Iran. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since August. The visit of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to Washington has been canceled.

According to a report from Axios citing three unnamed US officials, US President Joe Biden is expected to discuss plans for a potential attack on Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call. This conversation will mark the first phone call between Biden and Netanyahu since August.

DEFINING THE LIMITS OF RETALIATION An US official speaking to Axios said, “We want to use this call to define the limits of Israel’s retaliation.” The official stated that the US aims to ensure that Israel strikes important targets in Iran in a “proportional manner.” Reuters, the British news agency, confirmed the call and reported that the two leaders are also expected to discuss the conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A LONG-DELAYED MEETING Biden had announced towards the end of last month that he would meet with Netanyahu to prevent a full-scale war in the Middle East. However, the meeting did not happen, and when asked about it last week, Biden said it was postponed because there was “no action currently being taken.”

GALLANT’S VISIT CANCELED The Pentagon announced that the visit of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to Washington on Wednesday and his scheduled meeting with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin have been canceled. Biden also withdrew from planned discussions on the Middle East and Ukraine among leaders of the US, UK, France, and Germany on Saturday. The White House stated that Biden will no longer travel to Berlin to focus on the response to Hurricane Ida.