From TV report sets out chronology of Nasrallah’s elimination, says US felt it was ‘played’ by PM
The decision to go ahead with the Friday evening strike on Hassan Nasrallah was taken by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the support of Defense Minister Gallant, shortly before the prime minister addressed the UN General Assembly in New York, having been approved in principle by the cabinet on Thursday evening, Channel 12 reports.
The TV station’s diplomatic correspondent Dana Weiss sets out the chronology of the approval process, and reports that the US was angry when news of the strike first emerged, because it had been engaging with Israel on the specifics of a ceasefire in the course of the week and felt it had been misled.
The strike culminated what the report said are being described in Israeli defense circles as “The 10 days of attacks” — which started with the detonation of thousands of pagers on their Hezbollah owners on September 17, in an attack for which Israel has not claimed responsibility.
The possibility of eliminating Nasrallah was “on the table” as of Wednesday, the report says. There were discussions that day involving the chief of staff, Mossad chief, Shin Bet chief, and Gallant — and they all said Israel should do it.
Netanyahu did not approve the strike before he left later than scheduled for the US in the early hours of Thursday morning, following talks that had extended into the night, but he kept the option open, Weiss says.
On Thursday, there were further consultations between the security chiefs, Gallant and, by telephone, Netanyahu, in which he was urged to approve the attack.
That evening, Israel-time, Netanyahu in New York convened the cabinet for a telephone consultation, and obtained the cabinet’s formal consent for him and Gallant to approve the strike if operational conditions permitted.
Channel 12 reports that some ministers said in the course of the discussion that they opposed the attack, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. It says Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem had opposed the idea in unspecified discussions earlier in the week. Both of them were reportedly concerned it would harm the IDF’s ongoing activities in Gaza.
On Friday morning, Gallant went to the northern border and firmed up various details with IDF Northern Command chief Major General Ori Gordin, Weiss notes. Early on Friday afternoon, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi met Gallant and reportedly told him, “We have what we need. We can go ahead with the operation. We know that Nasrallah is in the bunker.”
Gallant and Halevi phoned Netanyahu, who was set to speak soon after at the General Assembly, and told him they recommended taking the decision to proceed. The prime minister approved the operation. He headed to the UN and delivered his speech — which included passages denouncing and threatening Hezbollah, and warning Iran.
At 6:20 p.m. on Friday, Israel-time, the IAF carried out the strike and soon after reported that the operation had been executed with complete success.
Weiss notes that even as the discussions were proceeding on whether to carry out the strike, Netanyahu, with his Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, were simultaneously engaging with the Biden administration on a potential ceasefire in Lebanon. Dermer was finalizing the details of the proposal with the Americans — and it was announced by the US and France on Thursday.
This explains the palpable American anger on Friday after word of the strike on Nasrallah first emerged, Weiss says. “From their point of view, they were played.”
“They were advancing an initiative,” Netanyahu and Dermer were working with them on the wording, and then they were only told at the last minute about the attack, she concludes.
