Netanyahu says no new strike on Iran before Israel's Oct. 27 election
A preemptive strike is "not convenient for us," the prime minister told Army Radio. He also confirmed Egypt's intelligence chief visited Israel days before Oct. 7.
Archive image · Photo: UK Government / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he opposes a preemptive strike on Iran before the Oct. 27 parliamentary election. "It is not convenient for us, it's no good," he told Army Radio. Political rivals have accused him of seeking a military confrontation before the vote. "Even if Iran fires missiles at us they will blame me," Netanyahu said. He warned that Israel would hit back hard if attacked but declined to discuss a possible strike after the election or his recent talks with Washington about Iran.
The United States and Iran have been at war since Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran; Israel and Iran have not exchanged fire since June. According to Haaretz, Netanyahu also confirmed reports that Egypt's then-intelligence chief Abbas Kamel secretly flew to Israel about 11 days before Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, but denied meeting him: "He didn't meet with me, he didn't speak to me." The Atlantic reported that Kamel warned of a major Hamas attack; Netanyahu had previously dismissed reports of such a warning as "fake news."