The foreign secretary, David Cameron, has confirmed that RAF fighter pilots took part in the defence of Israel over the weekend and shot down “a small number” of Iranian drones.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is due to make a statement to Parliament later on Monday but Lord Cameron has urged Israel to be “smart as well as tough.”
His comments echo those of U.S. President Joe Biden who has reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “take the win”—after Israel shot down the vast majority of the drones and missiles fired by Iran—and not seek to escalate the conflict.
Iran made it clear the attack on Saturday—which involved 350 missiles and drones—was in retaliation for the Damascus bombing and an Iranian government spokesman said on Sunday, “the matter can be deemed concluded.”
But a senior Israeli commander, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said after a war cabinet meeting on Sunday, “Over the past two hours we approved plans for both offensive and defensive action.”
He said, “We will continue to protect the state of Israel and, together with our partners, we will build a more secure and stable future for the entire Middle East.”
John Healey, Labour’s shadow defence secretary, has called on Mr. Sunak to tell Parliament what Britain is, “doing diplomatically to try and reduce tensions, to restore some stability and to pursue the path of peace and a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Lord Cameron told Sky News the RAF were backfilling for the United States in joint operations against the ISIS threat in Iraq and Syria.
Cameron Urges Israel to ‘Think With Head’
He said the Iranian attack was an “almost total failure,” and he urged Israel to “think with head as well as heart” in its response.The foreign secretary told the Times Radio, “The best thing to do in the case of Israel is to recognise this has been a failure for Iran.
“So they should, as President Biden has said to them, as it were, take the win and then move on to focus on how to eradicate Hamas in Gaza and how to get those hostages free,” he added.
Lord Cameron said he understood the Israeli people would want their government to respond to such a “massive attack” but he said, “The smart thing to do as well as the tough thing to do now is actually not to escalate.’”
The foreign secretary said the attacks had been a “double defeat” for Iran because they had not only failed militarily but also politically, with the rest of the world now able to see, “what a malign influence they are in the region.”
Lord Cameron said Iran’s actions were “reckless and dangerous” and he said Britain would be open to considering further political and economic sanctions against Iran.
As for whether the RAF would back up the Israelis again in the future, he said, “If there was another Iran attack—Iran has said they’re not going to attack again, and after the failure of their attack, I’m not surprised—but absolutely, we’ll always keep these things under review.”
Lord Cameron said Hamas had rejected Israel’s offer in peace negotiations and he added, “Anyone in any doubt who is responsible for keeping this conflict going, it’s not Israel, it is Hamas, and the focus should be on them.”
Israel launched a ground offensive into Gaza in response to an attack across the border on October 7 by Hamas terrorists, who killed 1,200 people.
Israel not ‘in the Business of Revenge’
A spokeswoman for the Israeli embassy in London said Israel was not “in the business of revenge.”Orly Goldschmidt told Sky News, “We are listening very carefully to our allies, we’re taking what they’re saying into consideration but, at the end of the day, we will have to defend ourselves against this Iranian threat.”
The Ministry of Defence issued a statement over the weekend in which they said they had moved several additional RAF jets and air refuelling tankers to the region to bolster Operation Shader, the campaign against ISIS who remain a threat in Iraq and Syria.
“We will continue to cooperate closely with our regional partners in the interest of de-escalation,” the statement added.
