Biden, Netanyahu discuss Israeli response to Iran's ballistic missile attack

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden held a "direct and productive" phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , the first time they had spoken since August.

The highly anticipated call, which lasted for about 30 minutes on Wednesday with Vice President Kamala Harris listening in, "continued discussions" that had been going on at a staff level for more than a week on what Israel's response should be to Iran's Oct. 1 airborne assault, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a news briefing .

"It was 30 minutes long. It was direct. It was productive," said Jean-Pierre. "They've had more than a dozen conversations since Oct. 7th. And I think what you have seen from this administration is the continued support for Israel's security. You saw that over the past couple of days, obviously, since the -- past couple of weeks. When Iran attacked Israel, the president directed his military to protect Israel. He was very proud to be able to do that. And that support continues."

However, she refused to provide further specifics and the official readout of the call added little more apart from restating the United States' "ironclad commitment" to Israel's security and condemning the attack by Iran "unequivocally."

Biden said last week that he would not conduct negotiations with Israel on what retaliation for the ballistic missile attack might look like in public -- but has let it be known he does not want to see Israel strike Iran's nuclear weapon program or its oil fields.

On the conflict in Lebanon , Biden did stress on the call that he wanted to see a diplomatic deal that would allow displaced Lebanese and Israelis to return to their homes -- while also reaffirming Israel's right to protect its citizens from Hezbollah rocket fire.

He told Netanyahu, however, that harm to civilians must be kept to a minimum, especially in densely populated areas of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and of the "urgent need to renew diplomacy to release hostages" still being held in Hamas , as well as the humanitarian situation in Gaza .

Biden emphasized the "imperative to restore access to the north [of the Gaza strip], including by reinvigorating the corridor from Jordan immediately."

The two leaders agreed to keep in close direct contact in the coming days on a one-to-one basis and via their respective national security teams.

The Israeli side has not issued a readout or made any reference to the phone call.

The New York Times reported that the call was at the insistence of White House officials who wanted a conversation before any Israeli response to the Iranian attack after Jerusalem failed to provide advance notice of its military offensive in Lebanon which they said put the lives of U.S. citizens at risk.

Their main worry, said the NYT, centers on how to prevent an "uncontrolled escalation" of the decades-old shadow war Israel and Iran have been waging after a series of missile strikes against each other -- by Iran in April and last week to which Israel has only responded to the former, so far.