The directive follows days of mixed signals ahead of Israel's Oct. 27 election and the Nov. 3 US midterms. While Netanyahu publicly called a renewed strike "inconvenient and no good" before the vote and privately weighed the difficulty of postponing the election and the home front toll of Iranian retaliation, he also briefed Trump and spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after Western intelligence detected "extreme" new Iranian military moves, Channel 12 reported. Israeli officials said any new strike should hit Iran's energy, missile and nuclear infrastructure if Tehran does not back down, though US and Israeli security officials see no immediate urgency.
Axios and Channel 12 earlier reported that Netanyahu and Trump had discussed a potential joint offensive over intelligence that Iran was reconstituting its nuclear program, including potentially operating Pickaxe Mountain as a uranium enrichment site. A US official told Axios that Trump told Netanyahu to "go ahead and get ready" without making a commitment, while IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine that renewed fighting would likely delay Israel's vote. Both the White House and Netanyahu's office denied that Netanyahu was pushing for a pre-election strike, and US and Israeli officials also denied an earlier Maariv report that Washington had pressed Israel to attack Iran alone.