Rishi Sunak was one of several world leaders that Benjamin Netanyahu ignored yesterday as the embattled Israeli prime minister moves towards striking back at Iran.
Israeli state broadcaster KAN reported that the Israeli PM has repeatedly turned down calls from foreign leaders as he knew that they would pile pressure on him to refrain from attacking Tehran.
He reportedly received “dozens of calls” from the world leaders following Iran’s weekend attack.
Downing Street confirmed that Mr Sunak’s call with his Israeli counterpart has been rescheduled for today after Mr Netanyahu was locked in discussions with his war cabinet yesterday.
No 10 added that the British PM would use today’s call to “discuss how we can prevent further escalation” in the Middle East.
Mr Sunak’s call for restraint echoed similar remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
So far, Mr Netanyahu has only held talks with US President Joe Biden in the wake of Iran’s retaliatory strikes.
During that phone call on Saturday, President Biden told Mr Netanyahu that the US, which helped Israel take down the Iranian drones, would not participate in an Israeli counter-strike.
Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi dropped the clearest hint yet that an Israeli attack was incoming.
On Monday, the IDF chief of staff vowed revenge against Tehran and said the Iranian strike “will be met with a response”.
The army’s spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, added that Israel will respond “at the time that we choose”.
According to reports, US government officials expect to see a limited response from Israel to the weekend’s attack from Iran.
Meanwhile, a senior spokesman for Iran said that there will be an even stronger response from Tehran if Israel retaliates.
Deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani said that his country would not wait 12 days to respond to another Israeli attack, but would retaliate in “a matter of seconds”.
Iran launched over 300 strikes against Israel at the weekend in response to the destruction of its consulate in Damascus, Syria earlier this month, which it blames on Israel.
The vast majority of the Iranian drones and missiles failed to reach their targets or were taken down by Israel’s air defence, aided by a coalition of partners including the UK and France.
