Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump for acting “swiftly” and “decisively” in his decision to authorize the strike on the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Qasim Soleimani.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Netanyahu said the United States has the right to self-defense, adding that Soleimani was planning future attacks.
“Just as Israel has the right to self-defense, the United States has the same right. Qasim Soleimani is responsible for the death of American citizens and many other innocent people. He was planning more such attacks. President Trump deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully, and decisively.”
Watch his comments below:
"President Trump deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively." @IsraeliPM says Israel "stands with the United States and it's just struggle for peace" in the Middle East and the killing of Qassem Soleimani. pic.twitter.com/jPd4Sdw4dw
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 3, 2020
Netanyahu continued to say that Israel supports the United States in its “just struggle towards peace, security, and self-defense.”
While Netanyahu voiced his support, leaders of the international community expressed their concern that the situation could escalate into a larger conflict.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged world leaders to “exercise maximum restraint.” His spokesperson said:
“This is a moment in which leaders must exercise maximum restraint. The world cannot afford another war in the Gulf.”
Several other world leaders also said the strike on Soleimani makes the world more dangerous.
In an interview, the French deputy minister for foreign affairs, Amelie de Montchalin, said, “We are waking up in a more dangerous world” and warned that military escalation is “always dangerous.”
In an interview with CNN, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Americans in the region are safer and added that Soleimani was planning attacks “that would have put dozens if not hundreds of American lives at risk.”
Although Pompeo said the death of Soleimani makes the world safer, the State Department urged Americans to leave Iraq “immediately” and to stay away from the embassy compound in Baghdad.
