A report in Walla News is weighing on oil.
It says that:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden made significant progress during their phone call on Wednesday in reaching an understanding regarding the scope of Israel’s planned retaliatory action against Iran, according to three senior American and Israeli officials.
It also says US officials may travel to Israel next week to continue discussions, so it looks like the timeline will be pushed back.
Barak Ravid reports that “a senior American official told me that the administration is “a little less worried” about Israel’s response against Iran following the Biden-Netanyahu call” and that “we are moving in the right direction.”
The White House has been pushing to limit Israel’s retaliation to military and intelligence operations and not strike oil or energy infrastructure.
The source said “the response Israel is planning is still slightly more severe than what the White House would like to see.”
Of course, the could entirely be a smokescreen as leaking national security operations is hardly ever a true ‘leak’.
It has the ring of truth though and few believe that Biden wants to see a spike in gasoline prices or a wider war before the election. So far, the reaction to this report is less than I would have anticipated, though oil is off about 30 cents.