Avner Vilan, an expert on Iran's nuclear program and a former senior defense official, speculated on Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a security briefing with Gadi Eisenkot to box him in politically ahead of possible Israeli action against Iran. Vilan stressed that he was only guessing.
Writing on social media about the meeting, which was reported by the Israeli news site Srugim, Vilan suggested that Netanyahu had pulled what he called a "Little Red Riding Hood" on Eisenkot.
"I'm throwing out a guess here that I have no idea is right, but that's what's fun about Twitter: Netanyahu understands that he can't currently initiate action in Iran behind Eisenkot's back, so he pulled a 'Little Red Riding Hood' on him," Vilan wrote.
"Today he presented the operation to him convincingly, let him in on a secret, shared intelligence and operational plans, and maybe even played the joker card, that it is coordinated with Trump, and therefore the move has to be carried out in the coming days and the prime minister can't be replaced now," he continued.
Vilan said the theory fit with remarks US President Donald Trump made on Thursday. He added that, as he has written before, Trump's statements should not be given too much weight.
"Eisenkot is boxed in," Vilan wrote. "He can't come out against Bibi now, on the eve of the strike, and he won't manage to form a government before it. And oops, any second the missiles fly and everyone here will start blabbering about unity. Hey, surprisingly, that's also exactly what suits Bibi politically. We'll live and see."
