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(https://rumcdn.geoedge.be/f7ae3efe-f9e8-44be-8cf9-3b564afd5f4b/grumi-ip.js)  (https://widgets.outbrain.com/outbrain.js)  (https://btloader.com/tag?o=5119785225420800&upapi=true)  (https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id=GTM-T4BJGTM)  (https://news.google.com/swg/js/v1/publisher.js)   (../../manifest.json)  (../../../images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/Icons/PNG/jp-favicon-16.png)  (../../../images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/Icons/PNG/jp-favicon-32.png)  (../../../images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/Icons/PNG/jp-favicon-192.png)  (https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/Icons/PNG/jp-favicon-180.png)  (https://fonts.gstatic.com)  (https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js)  IDF did not plan to strike Iran before election despite earlier reports | The Jerusalem Post      (article-912399.html)                     (Jerusalem Post) (https://www.jpost.com/) (The Jerusalem Post - Israel News) (The Jerusalem Post - Israel News)    (CONFERENCES) (https://www.jpost.com/conferences) CONFERENCES  (ISRAEL NEWS) (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news) ISRAEL NEWS  (WORLD NEWS) (https://www.jpost.com/international) WORLD NEWS  (MIDDLE EAST) (https://www.jpost.com/middle-east) MIDDLE EAST  (BUSINESS & INNOVATION) (https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation) BUSINESS & INNOVATION  (DEFENSE & TECH) (https://defense-and-tech.jpost.com/) DEFENSE & TECH  (OPINION) (https://www.jpost.com/opinion) OPINION  (JP STORE) (https://store.jpost.com/) JP STORE   (https://www.jpost.com/PayWalllogin) Login    (Search) ()           (https://www.jpost.com/PayWalllogin) Login (https://payments.jpost.com/paywall/paywallpersonaldetails) Subscribe    (https://www.jpost.com/magazineprint/digitallibrary) JPOST DIGITAL LIBRARY  (https://www.jpost.com/) HOME PAGE  (https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report) THE JERUSALEM REPORT  (https://defense-and-tech.jpost.com/) DEFENSE & TECH  (https://www.jpost.com/tags/education) JPOST HIGHER EDUCATION  (https://www.jpost.com/opinion) OPINION  BUSINESS & INNOVATION      (https://realestate.jpost.com/) REAL ESTATE LISTINGS  (https://www.jpost.com/aliyah) ALIYAH  (https://www.jpost.com/conferences) JERUSALEM POST CONFERENCE  PREMIUM      (https://store.jpost.com/) JP STORE  Categories  ISRAEL NEWS      WORLD NEWS      MIDDLE EAST      (https://www.jpost.com/american-politics) US POLITICS  DIASPORA      (https://www.jpost.com/opinion) OPINION  PODCAST      JUDAISM      (https://www.jpost.com/kabbalah) KABBALAH  CHRISTIAN WORLD      HEALTH & WELLNESS      (https://www.jpost.com/science) SCIENCE  (https://www.jpost.com/law) LAW  ARCHAEOLOGY      (https://www.jpost.com/omg) OMG  (https://www.jpost.com/environment-and-climate-change) ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE  (https://www.jpost.com/food-recipes) FOOD & RECIPES  (https://www.jpost.com/history) HISTORY   (https://www.jpost.com/special-content) SPONSORED CONTENT  (https://www.jpost.com/advertise) ADVERTISE WITH US  (https://www.jpost.com/landedpages/termsofservice.aspx) TERMS OF USE  (https://www.jpost.com/landedpages/privacypolicy.aspx) PRIVACY POLICY  (https://www.jpost.com/contactus) CONTACT US  (https://www.jpost.com/customer-service/cancel-subscription) CANCEL SUBSCRIPTION  (https://www.jpost.com/customer-service) CUSTOMER SERVICE  (https://www.jpost.com/landedpages/aboutus.aspx) ABOUT US       (https://www.jpost.com/) Jerusalem Post /  (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news) Israel News /  (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news) Defense News   IDF was not planning to strike Iran on Oct. 10 despite reports of attack blocked by Trump Sources told the Post it was unusual for IDF chief Eyal Zamir to be excluded from the Hegseth meeting, raising questions about the political considerations behind Netanyahu's decision.  (Share)         (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=https://www.jpost.com/)      Follow us on Google     ((Illustrative) A projectile is fired during what the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said was a third round of strikes this week against Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 11, 2026.) ((Illustrative) A projectile is fired during what the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said was a third round of strikes this week against Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 11, 2026.)   (Illustrative) A projectile is fired during what the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said was a third round of strikes this week against Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 11, 2026.  (photo credit: U.S. Central Command/Handout via REUTERS )    By (https://www.jpost.com/author/yonah-jeremy-bob) YONAH JEREMY BOB    OCTOBER 21, 2026 12:40   Despite a Financial Times report, the IDF was not planning a strike on Iran on October 10, The Jerusalem Post learned on Wednesday.  It is true that over the last several months since the April 7 Israel-Iran ceasefire, the IDF has been on a war footing a few times, should the Iranians seem to be about to launch an attack or should (https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-91) US President Donald Trump decide on a renewed joint US-Israel operation against the Islamic Republic.   One of those times was in the days surrounding October 7, as there was high concern in the IDF that Tehran would choose to initiate a new conflict with Israel around that anniversary date.  But neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Defense Minister Israel Katz, nor any other government official, had told the IDF to prepare to attack in the way that such orders were handed down leading up to the June 2025 and early 2026 conflicts with Iran.  In that sense, sources have told the Post that the premise of the Financial Times report - that (https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-912360) Trump blocked Israel from an attack on Iran which it was about to carry out - is wrong, because Israel was not about to carry out an attack.   (US President Donald Trump (L) holds hands and speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on October 13, 2025.)  US President Donald Trump (L) holds hands and speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on October 13, 2025. (credit: Photo by Chip Somodevilla/POOL/AFP/JTA)    Put simply, Trump could not block an attack that was not planned.  Sources have speculated that a leak of such a potential attack on Iran to the Financial Times could be designed to impact the Israeli election, with Netanyahu claiming that he was ready to attack Iran a third time, but was prevented by Trump.  Such a story might also assist Trump in the US midterm elections, as it would seem to present him as responsibly managing the conflict with Iran, which is extremely unpopular among both Democrats and Republicans.   The narrative that Netanyahu is seeking to attack is also easy to support, since the IDF has been on a war footing a few times recently, including in the days before and after October 7.  In other words, the narrative isn't true, but it's not far from the truth, according to sources.   More comprehensively, sources have told the Post and other Israeli and foreign media that the IDF has been prepared to take action against Iran for months in two main scenarios: 1) where the IDF would see that Iran is about to attack first; or 2) with a joint US-Israel resumption of hostilities.  Trump stated he backed out of attacking Iran in August  On August 2, Trump himself publicized that he backed down from an attack on Iran which could have eventually involved the IDF.  In recent days, Trump has heightened his public threats against Iran, including specifically against (https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-911901) Pickaxe Mountain , and sources have confirmed that if Washington had gone forward with a strike, this could have made Israeli participation far more likely.  Another issue with the Financial Times report is the idea that a future attack by Israel and the US would be larger in scale than the early 2026 war, when(https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-912361) Iran has not repaired enough of what was bombed then for a larger attack to take place.  Sources have noted that top Israeli officials have publicly called for targeting Iran's energy sector more robustly, something which was more limited in early 2026, but this by itself would not constitute a larger-scale attack after Israel and the Us dropped around 30,000 bombs.  In addition, sources said that it was strange that IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir was not invited to a meeting with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at the (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-912217) Ovda IDF air force base this week.   Although US secretaries of defense usually meet with their Israeli counterparts and often with the prime minister, rare visits to Israel invariably involve the IDF chief because of his influence on war and peace matters.  Sources speculated that Netanyahu may have been influenced by political considerations about how to portray Hegseth's visit and what messages would be passed back and forth, in his decision to keep Zamir and the IDF out of the meeting.  Hegseth has held far fewer visits with Israel than his predecessor, and his visits, as well as Katz's, have at times been shortened or canceled.     See more on (https://www.jpost.com/tags/idf) IDF |  (https://www.jpost.com/tags/iran) Iran |  (https://www.jpost.com/tags/united-states) United States |  (https://www.jpost.com/tags/middle-east) Middle East |  (https://www.jpost.com/tags/donald-trump) Donald Trump |  (https://www.jpost.com/tags/eyal-zamir) Eyal Zamir    (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=https://www.jpost.com/)      Follow us on Google           Related Articles (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-912452) (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks to The Jerusalem Post, October 21, 2026.) (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks to The Jerusalem Post, October 21, 2026.)  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