JERUSALEM — Caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the possible resumption of attacks on Iran with Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who has been tasked with forming Israel's next government, in a security briefing on Thursday, Israeli media reported on Friday — and by Friday Eisenkot was publicly vowing that he would not allow any lack of oversight of the caretaker government's actions during the transition.

Source: Anadolu via Bytes Europe (Channel 12, KAN, Haaretz, Channel 13)

The meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem lasted about two hours and was also attended by Netanyahu's military secretary, Maj. Gen. Guy Markizano, The Media Line reported. It was confirmed in a joint statement. Eisenkot had asked for the briefing after appealing on Wednesday to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to intervene and ensure he receives regular security updates, arguing that as the lawmaker tasked with forming a government — at a moment when the new Knesset has not yet appointed an official opposition leader — he is entitled to ongoing intelligence assessments.

Source: The Media Line via SRN News

The intelligence Netanyahu showed — and what Eisenkot did not know

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu used the meeting to share intelligence on Iran with Eisenkot. The broadcaster cited an informed source who said the intelligence “could change his view” of Netanyahu's motives for resuming attacks. Channel 12 also reported that Eisenkot was not aware that Mossad chief Roman Gofman was visiting Washington to discuss the same issue. The broadcaster did not indicate whether Eisenkot was deliberately kept uninformed about Gofman's visit.

Source: Anadolu via Bytes Europe (Channel 12, KAN, Haaretz, Channel 13)

The Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu failed to convince Eisenkot of the need for an immediate strike on Iran. Eisenkot said on Friday that he had met Netanyahu and his military secretary this week and “made it clear that I will not allow a lack of oversight” of the prime minister's actions during the transition. In a separate formulation reported by the Jerusalem Post, he said he would not allow a vacuum in oversight of a government that has lost the confidence of the Knesset.

Source: Times of Israel, Axios and CNN via Zark News

Army chiefs: no immediate threat, and no renewed war in the coming weeks

Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir supports a military operation against Iran but does not believe the current timing is appropriate, and favours coordination with the United States and choosing suitable timing and conditions. KAN cited an unnamed security source who said the Israeli army sees no immediate Iranian threat requiring a new attack, has warned against entering a prolonged war of attrition, and ruled out renewing the war in the coming weeks. Channel 12 has previously reported disagreements between Netanyahu and Zamir over moves that could lead to a new confrontation with Iran; Netanyahu's office denied that report.

Source: Anadolu via Bytes Europe (Channel 12, KAN, Haaretz, Channel 13)

Channel 13 reported that the army told both Netanyahu and Eisenkot that there is no immediate urgency for an Israeli strike, but that Israel should join the fighting if President Donald Trump renews American attacks. Channel 13 said Gofman would present intelligence in Washington concerning Iran's nuclear programme and its development of long-range missiles, as well as Israeli claims that Tehran violated agreements with Washington — claims reported here as Israel's position, which Iran has not accepted.

Source: Times of Israel, Axios and CNN via Zark News

A caretaker government, a written warning, and the limits of its mandate

The briefing followed Eisenkot's letter to Netanyahu on Wednesday, in which he wrote that deploying Israeli forces “without a direct and immediate threat that cannot wait could have devastating consequences for Israeli democracy and public trust in the institutions of government”, and demanded that the caretaker prime minister “act with national responsibility during this sensitive period” and refrain from “dangerous moves that can wait until a new government, enjoying the confidence of the Knesset, is sworn in”. The letter came hours before Israel's security cabinet, on Wednesday evening, ordered the military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran — an earlier development this follow-up builds on.

Source: Jerusalem Post / N12 via Peoples Mind

Formally, Israel's caretaker government carries the same authority as a regular government, but the Supreme Court has previously held that an outgoing government must avoid irreversible moves unless they are urgent — a principle known as the duty of restraint, Al Jazeera reported, citing legal scholars. Avigdor Lieberman, another opposition-bloc leader, said the caretaker government must not “make decisions that could drag Israel into war without parliamentary oversight and without the full agreement of all security officials”.

Source: Al Jazeera via Antigua Tribune

Netanyahu's office rejected Eisenkot's warning, said he was trying to politicise national security, and insisted that the government makes its decisions based only on security considerations.

Source: Times of Israel, Axios and CNN via Zark News

The Washington track and Jerusalem track are now running against each other. Axios reported that Trump, in a November 5 call, declined Netanyahu's push to resume the campaign, and has backed the position of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which favour keeping the blockade and economic pressure while a deal is explored. Trump's own public position shifted within Thursday: he wrote that the United States “does not need a deal with Iran” and redirected Vice President JD Vance to domestic issues, while in a radio interview released the same night he said he would have “no hesitation” about ordering further strikes. CNN, citing two Israeli sources, reported that Netanyahu has even considered a unilateral Israeli strike, which it said would still need Trump's approval; no other outlet in Friday's reporting confirmed that detail, and it is reported here as CNN's claim alone.

Source: Times of Israel, Axios and CNN via Zark News

Why it matters beyond Jerusalem: any return to open US–Iran fighting would immediately threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway that carries about a fifth of the world's oil, and the safety and jobs of the lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers based across the Gulf states. Brent crude settled at $95.41 a barrel on Friday, down 2.4 percent on the week, as rising OPEC+ supply and a build in US inventories outweighed the Hormuz risk premium for now — but traders say a single strike decision in Jerusalem or Washington could reverse that within hours.

Background: the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026, opening a war that has since settled into a US naval blockade, exchanges of strikes and claims, and stalled diplomacy over Iran's nuclear programme. Israel's own politics turned over in the middle of it: Netanyahu's bloc lost its parliamentary majority in the October 27 elections, and President Isaac Herzog handed Eisenkot — whose Yashar party leads the rival bloc, with 67 lawmakers' recommendations — the mandate to form a government, a process still under way.

What happens next: Israel's security cabinet is expected to meet on Sunday for the first time in more than a month, according to The Times of Israel; Gofman's expected meeting with Witkoff will show whether Washington's position moves; and Eisenkot's coalition clock keeps running while he insists that no irreversible war decision be taken before a government with the Knesset's confidence exists. Neither the Mossad, the CIA nor the White House commented publicly on Gofman's visit.

Source: Times of Israel, Axios and CNN via Zark News

This story follows the security cabinet's Wednesday decision to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran, and Eisenkot's first written demand for restraint. Read the earlier story: security cabinet steps up Iran preparations