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Analysis

Biden threatens US policy shift on Gaza war as Israel braces for Iranian reprisal

In their conversation over the phone Thursday, President Joe Biden made it clear to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel must do more to protect aid workers and civilians in Gaza or risk a major shift in US policy.
ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and almost 10 million other Israelis have spent the past week preparing for Iran’s threatened reprisal for the killing of Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi in a Damascus missile attack widely attributed to Israel. 

While experts and commentators speculated about Iran’s potential response to the April 1 killing of the senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, authorities were reassuring Israelis that they need not stock up on generators and other emergency supplies.

Various scenarios were discussed on television and radio talk shows, and the Israeli military's head of intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliwa, was quoted as warning that "the worst may not be behind us yet." Netanyahu placed the military on high alert, cancelling leave for combat troops and ordering the defense systems to prepare for possible Iranian ballistic missile or cruise missiles, suicide drones and other threats.

Biden calls Netanyahu

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