Newsman: President Joe Biden said Tuesday he directed the U.S. military to help Israel shoot down Iranian missiles — an attack, Biden said, that appears to have been “defeated and ineffective.”
“This is testament to Israeli military capability and the U.S. military,” Biden said in his first on-camera remarks on the issue. “It’s also a testament to intensive planning between the United States and Israel to anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected.”
“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel,” Biden added.
Biden said his team has been in constant contact with Israeli officials and would continue to share updates. He has not yet spoken to Netanyahu.
Vice President Kamala Harris, in her own remarks, said she “fully supported” Biden’s order to help shoot down the Iranian missiles and that her support for Israel was “unwavering.”
“I condemn this attack unequivocally,” Harris said. “I’m clear-eyed. Iran is a destabilizing, dangerous force in the Middle East, and today’s attack on Israel only further demonstrates that fact.”
National security adviser Jake Sullivan, joining the White House press briefing, said at this time the administration does not know of “any damage to aircraft or strategic military assets in Israel.”
Biden and Harris monitored the Iranian attack against Israel from the White House Situation Room and received regular updates from their national security team, Sullivan said.
Iran launched about 200 ballistic missiles at various targets inside Israel, the Pentagon’s Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. Two U.S. Navy destroyers located in the eastern Mediterranean — the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole — fired “approximately a dozen” missile interceptors at the incoming barrage, Ryder said.
