Report of Netanyahu–IDF chief clash over Iran action, denied by PM and defense minister

Right · 2Israel's Channel 12 (N12) reported on Sunday 25 October that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir had clashed over a military action that could renew the conflict with Iran, days before Israel's elections. 1 2 Right · 2According to the report, Zamir had received a directive from the political leadership which security officials said would "trigger a rapid escalation into a confrontation with Iran"; the directive itself was not described. 1 2 Right · 2Zamir reportedly requested an in-depth discussion and formal authorization before proceeding; AFP's account of the report adds that he demanded legal guarantees and the signatures of the political leadership. 1 2

Right · 2Unnamed sources told the channel that Zamir and other IDF leaders feared the political echelon might exploit the Iran front for political gain ahead of the vote. 1 2 Right · 2Netanyahu denied the report on Channel 14, saying "there is no confrontation" and that someone was trying to obscure that Zamir himself had said Iran was trying to interfere in the elections; AFP quotes him calling the report "rubbish". 1 2 Right · 1On Monday Defense Minister Israel Katz called the reports "entirely baseless and false", said coordination between the government and the IDF was "complete", and said Israel had no intention of attacking Iran before the elections; he described the report as an effort to cast doubt on the Netanyahu bloc's judgment. 2

Right · 2Opposition figures backed Zamir and attacked Netanyahu: Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot warned against using the IDF as a political tool, Democrats chair Yair Golan said Netanyahu was a security threat, Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman spoke of a "betrayal of the state", and Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of seeking an escalation to postpone the elections. 1 2 Right · 1The report rests on unnamed sources and has not been independently confirmed; Netanyahu has campaigned heavily on his security credentials, arguing that only he can finish the job in the US-Israeli war against Iran. 2