The IDF denied a Saudi report that Defense Minister Israel Katz's remarks about alleged U.S. air operations from Israel caused a diplomatic rift with Washington. The military said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir never spoke with CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper following the comments, calling the report 'incorrect.'
The IDF on Wednesday evening denied a Saudi report claiming that Defense Minister Israel Katz's disclosure of U.S. aircraft operating from Israeli bases to strike Iran had caused a diplomatic rift between Jerusalem and Washington. The military stated that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has not spoken with CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper, and called the report "incorrect." This is the latest — and most sweeping — denial in a series of statements issued throughout the afternoon.
The chain of events began at 14:07 Jerusalem, when the Saudi Al-Hadath channel, citing an IDF official, reported that Katz's remarks at a Channel 14 conference had angered CENTCOM and forced Zamir to apologize to Cooper. Within minutes, a military source denied that any such conversation took place. The most emphatic denial came at 14:58, when Channel 14 journalist Noam Amir, citing IDF sources, reported that the military labeled the apology claim "fake." The current denial goes further, rejecting not just the apology but the entire premise of a diplomatic rift.
As The Zioneer has reported, U.S.-Israel operational coordination has been a matter of ongoing sensitivity. Earlier this month, The Zioneer reported on CENTCOM's provision of intelligence and air coordination for Israeli strikes. Defense Minister Katz has previously been at the center of diplomatic controversies, including an incident in June when his office released a transcript to rebut reports of an attack on the Prime Minister.
What remains open is the initial report itself: that an IDF official briefed Saudi media on the matter. The IDF has not addressed that briefing, only the claims that emerged from it. The degree of any actual tension or concern from CENTCOM over Katz's disclosure has not been independently verified, and the Saudi report's claims remain unconfirmed.
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