JERUSALEM - Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz on Monday denied reports of a confrontation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir over possible military action against Iran, according to The Times of Israel, reported by ANI. 'The reports of disagreements between the political leadership and the IDF on Iran are completely baseless and false,' Katz said in a statement.

Source: The Times of Israel via ANI / Devdiscourse, Oct 26

'I state unequivocally that Israel had no intention of initiating an attack on Iran before the elections in Israel, while making clear that if Iran attacks Israel, we will respond with great force,' Katz said, adding that 'all reports on this matter are completely false.' Katz wrote on X on Monday morning, the German news agency DPA reported, and described the reports as a 'shameful and irresponsible' attempt by opposition politicians to discredit him and the prime minister before the election.

Source: DPA, Oct 26, via ekkow

TuesdayIsrael's election day, with polls projecting a dead heat (ANI)
Channel 12Israeli TV channel that first reported the alleged Netanyahu-Zamir confrontation on Sunday night
No pre-election attack plannedDefence Minister Katz's stated position on Iran, Oct 26

In a separate statement reported by All Israel News, Katz stressed there had been 'complete' coordination between him, the prime minister and the IDF on the Iran issue, and repeated that Israel had no intention of striking Iran ahead of Tuesday's elections, while warning of a harsh response if the Iranian regime attacked Israel.

Source: All Israel News, Oct 26

What the original report claimed - and the political fallout

The denial followed a report by Israel's Channel 12 news on Sunday night that a confrontation was brewing between Netanyahu and Zamir over a proposed military action linked to Iran. Channel 12, citing anonymous sources, said Zamir had been resisting the action and had sought further deliberations as well as signed documentation from Netanyahu on legal authorisation; the network gave no details of the instructions, although speculation was that they concerned a fresh attack on Iran, ANI reported. Army Radio published similar details on Monday morning, citing two senior security officials, according to The Times of Israel's account.

Source: ANI, Oct 26, reporting Channel 12 and Times of Israel

Netanyahu himself dismissed the allegations as 'nonsense' in an interview with Israel's Channel 14, ANI reported. In the political fallout, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman wrote to Israel's Attorney General demanding a criminal investigation against Netanyahu over the reports, according to ANI. The reported confrontation comes a day ahead of Tuesday's election, where pollsters have projected a dead heat between Netanyahu and his closest rival Gadi Eisenkot, ANI said. On Sunday, Netanyahu had warned during a visit to an Arrow missile defence site that the Israeli army was 'prepared in both defence and offence' and told Israel's enemies, 'Don't test us,' DPA reported.

Source: ANI, Oct 26; DPA, Oct 26