A senior Israeli official told journalist Yaron Abraham (N12) that Israel did not know whether Trump's planned strike on Iran was the 'big thing' or a routine attack, and prepared for a wide operation that could have affected Israel. The admission comes after the US reportedly canceled a strike overnight Friday to allow negotiations.
A senior Israeli official acknowledged Saturday evening that Israel did not know whether the U.S. strike President Donald Trump had planned overnight Friday was the "big thing" or a routine attack, and prepared for a wide operation that could have affected Israeli territory. The official's admission, given to journalist Yaron Abraham (N12), marks the first direct Israeli confirmation of the uncertainty that characterized the overnight standoff.
The story began to unfold Saturday afternoon when Ynet first reported that Israel assessed Trump would strike Iran on Friday night, but the attack did not materialize. Over the next hour, Israeli sources told journalist Itai Blumenthal that the defense establishment had prepared for a significant U.S. strike and that Trump decided to postpone to give diplomacy a chance. By 16:09 Jerusalem, a series of reports from Israeli sources described Israel on standby, prepared to join the strikes if Iran retaliated with missiles. Shortly after, U.S. briefings offered a different perspective, describing the planned operation as a routine addition to ongoing strikes, which Trump canceled to allow negotiations.
The new admission from a senior Israeli official bridges the two accounts: Israel prepared for a wide attack because it did not know what Trump intended. The official's statement, as The Zioneer reported earlier, aligns with the earlier Israeli reports of high alert but introduces the element of uncertainty about the strike's scope. The U.S. briefings had characterized the planned strike as routine, while Israeli sources had described it as potentially exceptional.
The broader context of this episode includes weeks of U.S. airstrikes on Iran and assessments of potential Iranian retaliation, with Israel on high alert. As The Zioneer has reported, U.S. officials had previously discussed expanding strikes to Tehran and involving Israel. The current standoff reflects the tense coordination between Washington and Jerusalem amid the escalation.
What remains unclear is the exact nature of the planned strike and whether the U.S. briefings accurately described it as routine, or whether the Israeli assessment of a potentially major operation was based on different information. The senior official's admission of uncertainty suggests that even within the Israeli defense establishment, the intelligence picture was incomplete.
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