After over three hours of deliberations on Sunday afternoon, Israel’s five-person war cabinet did not reach a decision as to how the country would respond to Iran’s massive missile and drone barrage on Saturday night.
Given several reports that the US is urging caution and that US President Joe Biden himself urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “think carefully and strategically,” the war cabinet suspended its discussions, but is expected to reconvene in short order, Channel 12 News reported.
The Israel Hayom daily newspaper cited, however, an Israeli official as stating that “there will be a response,” while the NBC network quoted an official source in the Prime Minister’s Office as saying that while a decision has yet to be made, “the IDF will need to present options” and that “it is clear that Israel will respond.”
Israeli officials cited by Reuters said that the war cabinet favors a retaliation against Iran, but is divided over the timing and scale of any such response.
The war cabinet discussions come less than 24 hours after Iran launched an unprecedented assault against Israel in which it fired some 350 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at Israel on Saturday night, 99% of which were successfully intercepted, the IDF said.
According to multiple Hebrew media reports, in light of this massive salvo, war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz and his National Unity party colleague Gadi Eisenkot, an observer in the war cabinet, both proposed striking back at Iran while the Iranian attack was still underway.
This suggestion was firmly opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief Herzi Halevi, and others, Channel 12 news reported, in part because of the strain of undertaking simultaneous action, when the IAF was focused on intercepting Iran’s incoming missiles and drones.
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