Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on US President Donald Trump to renew military action against Iran before the elections in Israel on October 27 and the US midterm elections a week later. The information is from the Times of Israel, quoted by News.bg.
American officials told “Channel 12“ that from the conversations between the two last week they were left with the impression that Netanyahu wanted an attack before the elections. According to an American source, the issue of renewing the strikes has been discussed several times, but Trump has not made a specific commitment to approve an operation.
Netanyahu claims the opposite – that it was Trump who raised the issue of resuming military action before the elections. A senior Israeli official said that the US president initially seemed ready to give a “green light“ to such a move, but later changed his position.
Washington publicly rules out new attack before the vote
Later, Trump publicly stated that he would not renew attacks on Iran before the US midterm elections. However, the Israel Defense Forces and US Central Command remain on high alert in case the president changes his mind.
The IDF Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, has warned that resuming military action before the Israeli elections could lead to their postponement. Israeli security officials say there is no change in intelligence assessment on Iran that would justify an Israeli-American operation in the next two to three weeks.
Netanyahu faces domestic political pressure
A US official quoted by „Channel 12“ claims that the Trump administration is aware of Netanyahu's domestic political considerations regarding the Knesset elections. He said that the Israeli prime minister's strength is based on being a prime minister in a time of war.
At the same time, Trump has stepped up his public rhetoric against Tehran. Earlier this week, he called Iran a “failed state“, whose economy is in a state of complete collapse, and said that Washington would soon make a decision about the country.
Sources: news.bg