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'Don't test us': Netanyahu warns Iran before Tuesday's vote, denies clash with army chief
Israel's Prime Minister says Tehran or its allies could attack to disrupt the election. A television report says he and military chief Eyal Zamir fell out over an Iran directive; he calls it nonsense.
Key points
- Netanyahu warned Iran and its proxies against attacks meant to disrupt Tuesday's election.
- Channel 12 reported a clash with chief of staff Eyal Zamir over an Iran directive.
- His main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, said he stood behind the army chief.
Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iran and its allies not to attack Israel in the run-up to Tuesday’s general election, and brushed aside a television report that he had fallen out with the head of the armed forces over Iran policy just days before the vote.
In a video statement on Sunday, the Prime Minister repeated, citing intelligence, that Iran or its proxies might strike in an attempt to disrupt the election. He said the military “is ready both to defend and to strike” and that Iran would suffer blows “far greater than you can imagine” if it tried. “Don’t test us,” he said.
The row over a directive
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Mr Netanyahu and the military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, had clashed over a political directive related to Iran shortly before the vote. The report did not say what the directive was.
Mr Netanyahu dismissed it as “nonsense” in an interview with Channel 14. The Israeli military did not comment.
His main challenger, the former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, took the army’s side. Writing on X, he said he backed Zamir.
The dispute goes to the centre of the campaign. Mr Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is in a close race that he could lose, and he has made Iran his main argument. He has said recently that Iran’s leadership must be “toppled”, and has called the overthrow of its government Israel’s “primary objective”. He is also reported to have pushed Washington for a new attack as his support in the polls has slipped.
A tense weekend on every front
The warning came as Israeli forces kept up strikes in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s National News Agency said the town of Baraachit, in the Bint Jbeil district, was hit on Sunday.
In Washington, President Donald Trump said there would be no US strike on Iran on Sunday, while keeping open the choice between a deal and what he called finishing the job. His administration has said it will not move before the 3 November midterm elections, so Israel will vote with the question unresolved.
Analysts see a risky stretch ahead. Julie Norman of Chatham House said both sides appeared prepared for escalation and that the risk of miscalculation was high, and questioned what another round of strikes would achieve in getting Iran to negotiate.
For India, the outcome matters on two counts. Israel is a close defence and technology partner, and any widening of the war with Iran would hit the Gulf shipping lanes that carry much of India’s oil.
Israelis vote on Tuesday, 27 October.