Report: Zamir the only security chief to oppose pre-election military action against Iran

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was reportedly the only Israeli security chief to oppose military action sought by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz that the IDF is said to fear could spark a flare-up with Iran and derail Tuesday’s election.

Channels 12 and 13 reported Monday that if Netanyahu forms the next government, he will likely fire Zamir if the Israel Defense Forces chief does not resign first.

The reports came after sources cited by CNN said Israel in recent weeks had lobbied the US to resume joint strikes against Iran, but President Donald Trump refused, in part because Zamir warned the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff that an attack could postpone Israel’s election.

Both Netanyahu and Katz denied the reports, as they have other accounts of a growing rift with Zamir over the unspecified Iran-related actions, with Katz saying on Monday morning that Israel was not planning to strike the Islamic Republic before the election.

Channel 12 first reported on Sunday that an “unprecedented confrontation” has been unfolding in recent days between Netanyahu and Zamir surrounding an instruction by the prime minister for unspecified military action that defense officials believe could lead to a flare-up with Iran shortly before the election. The TV network said Zamir had been resisting carrying out the military action and sought further deliberations, as well as signed documentation from Netanyahu regarding legal authorization for it.

Citing three sources familiar with the high-level talks, the Channel 12 report on Monday said Zamir warned in recent discussions that Iran could misinterpret the actions sought by Katz and Netanyahu and respond with a preemptive strike.

But Shin Bet chief David Zini and Mossad chief Roman Gofman, who like Zamir were appointed by Netanyahu during his current term as premier, supported immediately carrying out the actions, with Gofman saying in the talks that “time is not on our side,” according to the television report.

The network said it could not determine the position of Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Omer Tischler and Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, who also took part in the talks.

A separate report by the Haaretz daily said Gofman, who was previously Netanyahu’s military secretary, has faced pushback from senior Mossad officials who oppose a proposed strike on Iran before the election and were concerned the plans were motivated by Netanyahu’s political interests.

The Mossad declined to comment on operational activities but said “discourse is a source of organizational strength, not a sign of tension,” and that the organization acts only out of security concerns.

When to end the Hebron operation

Meanwhile, the Kan public broadcaster reported that Netanyahu and Zamir also clashed over the operation that the IDF launched in Hebron after Palestinian gunmen opened fire on troops in the southern West Bank city, killing two soldiers. The operation has displaced some 3,000 Palestinians from their homes.

Sources cited by Kan said the IDF wanted to announce already on Saturday night that the operation was set to end within a day, but Netanyahu insisted the operation continue.

In an assessment with top military brass at the Tel Nof air base on Sunday, Zamir said there was no operational reason to continue the Hebron raid and that there was no legal rationale to keep Palestinians from returning home, according to the broadcaster. Zamir recommended Netanyahu end the operation, but the premier rejected the suggestion, the report added.

A military source cited by Kan said the operation had met its goals — establishing deterrence, locating terror infrastructure and gathering intelligence. Troops have scanned 500 structures in the city, but found only two guns to seize, according to the military.

Multiple soldiers in the operation also indicated it no longer served a strategic purpose, Kan said.

“We’re just sitting at these locations doing nothing. We conducted searches, looked for weaponry and found what there was to find,” the outlet quoted one soldier as saying. “Right now, we’re just wasting time.”

“You can always find another handgun or another Hamas flag, but that’s not the goal. There are soldiers here who haven’t been home in 28 days, just because someone doesn’t want to admit the operation is over,” the soldier said, according to Kan.

Netanyahu and Katz rail against ‘fake news’

Shortly after the TV reports aired Monday evening, the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement dismissing them as “complete fake news, from start to finish.”

Netanyahu also posted on his personal X account against the “fake news from the fear-mongering Channels 12 and 13 on the eve of the election.”

“I don’t intend to fire the chief of staff; we’ll keep working together for the security of Israel. I do intend to finally remove the Iranian nuclear threat,” Netanyahu said, vowing to work with “my friend,” Trump, to neutralize the threat and sign more peace agreements.

Katz, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, also said reports that Zamir could be fired were “completely fabricated and an absolute lie, just like other lies… that were spread over the past day with the aim of harming Likud ahead of the election.”

“I recommended Zamir’s appointment as chief of staff. We are working together for the security of the State of Israel, with unprecedented historic achievements, and I intend to continue doing so in the future,” Katz said.

Former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot, head of the centrist Yashar party who is Netanyahu’s key election rival, wrote on X that Zamir “will finish his role only in accordance with the time set by law.”

“Benjamin Netanyahu will finish his role immediately after the results of the elections that will be held tomorrow and the speedy formation of the next government,” Eisenkot said.

“Tomorrow we’ll make sure that will come to be,” Eisenkot said. “Tomorrow the nation of Israel will choose a prime minister whose considerations will always be for the good of Israel, who will never act out of political interests at the expense of the security of the state of Israel and IDF fighters.”