Netanyahu pushed to attack Iran before Israeli elections, officials say

Ahead of Tuesday’s crucial election in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought for weeks to orchestrate another airstrike on Iran but faced resistance from the army’s chief of staff, according to three senior Israeli defense officials and three others briefed on the matter.

Then, in recent days, the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, grew concerned that Mr. Netanyahu had begun pushing for separate action against Iran, without an overt strike, according to an Israeli official and a person briefed on the matter, neither of whom described the nature of such an action. General Zamir believed this would be a miscalculation that could prompt Iran to attack Israel.

Spokespeople for Mr. Netanyahu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israeli officials and people briefed on the deliberations spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Mr. Netanyahu’s reasons for attacking Iran before the election were unclear, but a return to war could have disrupted or even delayed the vote.

Behind-the-scenes tensions over a possible Israeli attack or other action against Iran come as Mr. Netanyahu has publicly described the stakes of the election in increasingly apocalyptic terms. Over the weekend, he posted an AI-generated image of a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv on social media and warned in a television appearance that the vote would decide “the existence of Israel.”

The appeals to Israeli fears are aimed at getting voters to view the conflict with Iran as the most pressing issue and entrust it with continuing the fight against Israel’s main regional adversary.