Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a top ally of President Donald Trump, is embroiled in an “unprecedented confrontation” with Israel’s top military commander over an undisclosed military operation that officials feared could ignite a clash with Iran just days before elections in which he trails his chief rival, Channel 12’s Yaron Avraham reported.
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir feared the political leadership could steer Israel into a “miscalculation” with Iran on the eve of Tuesday’s elections, according to the report. Zamir refused to act until there was a thorough discussion of the order and the political leadership put its legal authorization in writing. Avraham noted that his report had been cleared by Israel’s military censor.
Citing sources familiar with the details, Avraham reported that Zamir stood largely alone. The heads of the Mossad and the Shin Bet reportedly backed carrying out the operation before the vote.
Recent polls show the party of Netanyahu’s main rival, former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, leading Netanyahu’s party.
“This guy was seen as a ‘yes man’ for Netanyahu, so for him to pull the fire alarm is really something,” Breaking Points co-host Krystal Ball, a former Democratic congressional candidate, said. “Really quite extraordinary when Netanyahu is getting too wild for his own hand-picked IDF chief of staff.”
Netanyahu’s office dismissed the report as “fake news,” and political figures told Channel 12 the military’s concerns were an outright lie. Defense Minister Israel Katz called reports of a rift between political and military leaders “completely baseless and false,” insisting Israel had no intention of attacking Iran before the election but would respond forcefully if Iran struck first.
Still, the report has fueled scrutiny. Avigdor Liberman, a former finance and defense minister who now leads the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, asked Israel’s attorney general to open a criminal investigation of Netanyahu for treason, accusing him of “pressuring the heads of the security establishment to take steps that could create a miscalculation vis-à-vis Iran.”