Biden Cautions Israel on Striking Iranian Oil Fields

“The Israelis have not concluded how they’re — what they’re going to do in terms of a strike. That’s under discussion. I think there are — if I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields.” Reporter: “At this point, you still haven’t spoken to Netanyahu. Is it fair to say that you have little personal influence over what he decides to do?” “No, look, our teams are in contact 12 hours a day. They’re constantly in contact. I’ve already had my presidential daily brief. We’ve already had interface between our military, our diplomats. It’s in constant contact. They are trying to figure out — it’s the high holidays as well — they’re not going to make a decision immediately. And so we’re going to wait to see when they want to talk. The Israelis have every right to respond to the vicious attacks on them, not just from the Iranians, but from everyone from Hezbollah to Houthis — anyway. But the fact is that they have to be very much more careful about dealing with civilian casualties.” Reporter: “So how should they respond? You expressed concerns about attacks on Iranian oil facilities. How should they respond?” “That’s between me and them.” Last night you said that there’s still a lot to do to avoid an all out war in the Middle East. Firstly, aren’t we pretty close to that definition already. And secondly, what can you really do to stop that happening. There’s a lot we are doing. The main thing we can do is try to rally the rest of the world and our allies into participating the French are and in Lebanon and other places to tamp this down. But when you have proxies as irrational as Hezbollah and the Houthis, and it’s a hard thing to determine. Did you have any worries that Netanyahu may be trying to influence the election. And that’s why he has not agreed to a diplomatic solution. No administration has helped Israel more than I have. None none. And I think Bibi should remember that. And whether he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know. But I’m not counting on that. You’ve said many times recently that you want to speak to him, that you plan to plan it and say, I want to. You don’t want to. No, I didn’t say that. You’re making it sound like I’m seeking a speaking. I’m assuming when they make their adjustment, how they’re going to respond, we will then have a discussion.