Katz: Israel never planned pre-election strike on Iran
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday morning rejected reports of disagreements between Israel's political leadership and the IDF over policy toward Iran, stressing that Israel had not planned to launch a preemptive attack against the Islamic Republic before the Israeli elections. In a statement, Katz emphasized that coordination between the Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and military is complete, and accused opposition figures of exploiting the reports for political purposes.
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The article never says what the reports were: that Israeli media described an unprecedented confrontation in which army chief Eyal Zamir resisted a Netanyahu order for military action related to Iran, with military sources voicing concern that the political leadership sought to use the Iranian issue for political benefit. Without it, a reader takes 'reports of disagreements' as vague rumour rather than sourced reporting of the army chief resisting an order.
How we know
- Antiwar.com reported“the army chief is resisting an order to take unspecified military action related to Iran ahead of”Israeli Media: IDF Chief Resisted Netanyahu Order for Military Action Related to Iran (opens in a new tab)
"The reports of disagreements between the political leadership and the IDF regarding Iran are completely baseless and false," Katz declared. According to Katz, since taking office, there has been close cooperation between the political leadership and senior military officials on all matters concerning Iran. He credited this coordination with significant security achievements and stressed that only security considerations influence the decision-making process.
"That is the only consideration - and it will remain this way in the future as well," he stressed. In addition, Katz responded to reports concerning the possibility of an Israeli military operation against Iran ahead of the elections, emphasizing, "I state unequivocally that Israel had absolutely no intention of initiating an attack against Iran before the Israeli elections." However, he noted that Israel had delivered a clear message regarding the possibility of an Iranian attack, warning that any attack against Israel would be met with a powerful Israeli response.
Left out here: Drops what it reported before
This outlet reported on 22 October, citing the Financial Times, that Netanyahu had instructed the army to prepare for a major strike on Iran during the weekend of 10 October, before the Israeli elections. The article drops this, so a reader accepts Katz's claim that no pre-election attack was ever intended with nothing from the outlet's own reporting set against it.
How we know
- Arutz Sheva / Israel National News wrote earlier“which said Netanyahu had instructed the IDF to prepare for a major strike against Iran during the weekend of October 10”Report: US and Israel prepare new Iran strikes after midterm elections (opens in a new tab)
"The opposition's attempt to exploit these reports to attack the Prime Minister and me and cast doubt on our judgment - while we are prevented, for obvious reasons, from discussing the details of the Iranian issue - is disgraceful and irresponsible. We will overcome this as well," he concluded.
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