Katz: Israel Won't Strike Iran Before Knesset Election

Defense Minister Israel Katz has rejected reports of disagreements between Israel's political leadership and the IDF over Iran, calling them "completely baseless and false." He stated that Israel has no intention of initiating an attack on Iran before Israelis go to the polls tomorrow (October 27).

Katz drew a clear line on what would follow an Iranian move. If Iran attacks Israel, he warned, the response will be "overwhelming force." He also turned on opposition figures who had seized on the reports to go after the Prime Minister and himself, branding their conduct "disgraceful and irresponsible."

The denial comes after a Channel 12 report on Sunday night. As JFeed reported, the channel said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir had clashed over a proposed military action against Iran that the military believed could lead to an immediate confrontation. Zamir reportedly demanded a full cabinet discussion, signed legal documentation and formal authorization from the political echelon before any action. Senior IDF officials were concerned that the issue was being exploited for political purposes ahead of the election.

On Saturday night, in an interview with Ayala Hasson on Channel 11 (Kan News), Katz denied that he and Netanyahu were planning military moves against Iran before the vote.

"We have not initiated and are not initiating a campaign in Iran before the election," Katz said.

In that interview, Katz accused the opposition of having "invented" the claim of a pre-election strike. He also said Israel holds intelligence showing that its enemies intend to use strikes and terror attacks in an effort to sway the outcome of the vote.

Katz charged that the opposition was behaving irresponsibly when it should be standing behind the government and the IDF on security matters.

He also linked the ballot directly to the Iran campaign. "The outcome of the elections will determine whether Israel will complete the job in Iran," Katz said. "Will it complete the job of toppling this regime? We did 80-90%. We hit them terribly, but it needs to be completed."

Trump and Netanyahu (Photo: White House)

Last Thursday, Netanyahu denied a Financial Times report that US President Donald Trump had stopped him from attacking Iran. The paper had reported that the IDF prepared a days-long bombing campaign for the weekend of October 10, and that it was shelved because Trump opposed renewing hostilities before the US midterm elections.