Report: Top defense officials deny claims Netanyahu’s trip to New York was a diversion tactic for Nasrallah

Senior defense officials deny claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to New York was a tactic to divert Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut while the premier was addressing the UN General Assembly, according to a Ynet news report.

The report quotes the unnamed senior officials as saying that Netanyahu was under unspecified pressure to postpone the assassination until he returned to Israel, but was convinced by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other top defense officials to take the rare opportunity yesterday.

However, Ynet also quotes sources close to Netanyahu as saying that the premier himself had pushed for the strike, despite reported pushback from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a security cabinet meeting on Thursday.

It corroborates previous reports that said discussions were ongoing when the prime minister took off for New York and continued during the flight, followed by a cabinet discussion over the phone early yesterday morning during which it was decided to move forward with the operation.

The premier gave the final approval for the strike from the hotel before leaving to address the UN, the report says.