Israel wants US to attack Iran, but Trump favours tough diplomacy: report
Israeli officials said Tel Aviv prefers that the US attack Iran, warning that refraining from such action would have "consequences."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened a security meeting attended by senior officials, including Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who recently returned from the US, where he held talks with American officials on Iran, local media reported.
Mossad Director David Barnea also attended the meeting, said Israel’s state broadcaster KAN on Sunday.
Zamir reportedly travelled to the US aboard a private aircraft instead of a military plane to avoid detection and sought to persuade Washington to carry out a strike on Iran.
The top US and Israeli generals held talks at the Pentagon on Friday amid soaring tensions with Iran, two US officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The officials did not offer details about the closed-door discussions between the US General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Zamir.
The United States has ramped up its naval presence and hiked its air defences in the Middle East after President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened Iran, trying to pressure it to the negotiating table.
Iran's leadership warned of a regional conflict if the US were to attack it.
Zamir predicts
Zamir predicted that the US would launch a military attack against Iran within two weeks to two months, local media reported.
“This is a period of uncertainty,” Army Radio quoted Zamir as saying during a situation assessment meeting.
Zamir said he believes that a US strike against Tehran will take place “within two weeks to two months.”
The radio said that a US attack against Tehran is not expected in the coming few days.
“The US does not share everything with Israel and excludes it from its decision-making processes," the broadcaster said.
The outlet also said that Israel is worried that Trump could reach an agreement with Iran on its nuclear programme “without including Iran’s ballistic missiles.”
Tough negotiations
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz met with Zamir after his talks in Washington, DC, Katz's office said, to review the situation in the region and the Israeli military's "operational readiness for any possible scenario".
An unnamed Israeli official involved in the discussions claimed that Trump wants to pursue tough negotiations with Iran, which the official alleged would lead to the dismantling of its nuclear programme.
Israeli officials said Israel prefers that the US attack Iran, warning that refraining from such action would have “consequences,” including what they described as progress by Iran toward acquiring nuclear weapons.
Israeli officials also conveyed their “concerns” to their US counterparts regarding Iran’s nuclear missile programme.
Israeli authorities have issued no official statement regarding the meeting.
Israeli financial newspaper, The Calcalist, estimates that the cost of a possible war on Iran could reach $10 billion.
According to the paper, some senior officials in the Israeli security establishment are worried that another round of fighting with Iran could cost tens of billions of shekels, “depending on the duration and nature of the conflict."