Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz met on Friday with French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy who arrived in Israel to prevent a regional escalation and to promote a hostage deal.
Katz made clear to his French and British counterparts that Israel expects France and the UK to publicly inform Iran that it may not attack Israel and that if Iran attacks, the US-led coalition will join Israel, not only in defense but in offense against significant targets in Iran as well.
"Iran must understand that if it won't stop its direct and proxy aggression against Israel, it will pay a heavy strategic and economic price - and that is the only chance of stopping an all-out war," he stated.
Katz made it clear that Israel would have to respond forcefully to a strike against it. He added that Israel is interested in a deal to bring to the release of the hostages and will do everything in the negotiations to advance this deal. The Minister warned his counterparts that Hamas is liable to toughen its stance and wait for an Iranian attack on Israel as an alternative to negotiations.