Netanyahu and rivals clash over Iran policy ahead of election
On 26 October, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief electoral challenger publicly traded accusations over Iran policy, with Netanyahu warning that Tehran could annihilate Israel and his rival alleging that the security debate was being used for political gain, France 24 reported. Earlier in the campaign, Netanyahu had highlighted President Donald Trump’s endorsement and said the United States would act against Iran only if Trump remained in office, Reuters noted.
He also posted an AI-generated image of a nuclear blast over Tel Aviv to stress the Iranian threat, Ynetnews reported. In addition, reports from The Jerusalem Post said the prime minister and IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir disagreed over a planned operation, with the military insisting its decisions were driven by security considerations, not politics.
