During the call with the US leader last week, Netanyahu flagged yet another “troubling” Israeli intelligence report about Tehran’s so-called pursuit of nuclear weapons to persuade Trump to restart the bombardment as a priority, according to an Axios report.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reportedly been deliberating the possibility of launching a new major operation against Iran before the end of elections in the United States and Israel.
Netanyahu expressed concern about steps Israel believes Iran is taking to reconstitute all of the various parts of its nuclear programme. “Bibi (Netanyahu) seems to want to go in again. But there’s really no commitment.
Resuming major combat operations in Iran would inject a volatile new issue favouring Netanyahu into the October 27 Israeli elections.
Advocating early military operations, Netanyahu reportedly told Trump that he was concerned Iran was taking “troubling steps” to reconstitute its nuclear programme. Israel is especially concerned about Iran potentially operating Pickaxe Mountain as a uranium enrichment site, sources said. Trump initially seemed to be leaning toward resuming attacks but grew hesitant after consultation with his team, the report said. Restarting the war in that timeframe could cause the Israeli elections to be postponed, given that Iran would probably retaliate, the sources said, according to Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir. He has talked to the president about it a couple [of] times, and the president has said, ‘Well, you know, Bibi, go ahead and get ready. Go ahead and get ready’ is maybe now, maybe later, maybe never,” a US official said. “The President has said that we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections,” the person reportedly said. Netanyahu’s office, meanwhile, told the American publication that “the prime minister maintains regular contact with President Trump and senior US administration officials and does not comment on the content of their conversations.”
