Speaking to the BBC ahead of an expected statement by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday afternoon, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that while the inclination to respond to the roughly 350 attack drones and missiles launched by Tehran was justified, Israel needs to “think with its head as well as its heart, to be smart as well as tough.”
The UK has advised Israel that it would be better off not retaliating, Cameron said, declaring that the attack was a “double defeat” for Iran in that it failed to cause major damage to Israel while at the same revealing “to the world that [Iran is] the malign influence in the region prepared to do this.”
Although the UK is pushing Israel to show restraint and de-escalate, he noted that Israel will ultimately make its own decisions regarding how it protects its citizens.
France, too, has been offering advice to Israel in the wake of Iran’s attack, suggesting a policy of isolation rather than one of retaliation, French President Emmanuel Macron told French news outlets on Monday. READ MORE
