An ‘unprecedented clash’ reportedly unfolded in the days leading up to Israel’s election, involving Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, over an order from the prime minister for military action that defence officials said could trigger a direct confrontation with Iran.

According to anonymous sources cited by Israel’s Channel 12, Zamir reportedly strongly resisted carrying out the military order and called for further consultations. He also demanded signed documents from Netanyahu confirming the operation’s legal authorisation.

The dispute came to a head over the weekend, with a military source cited by the broadcaster saying: ‘This is an action that could lead to an escalation with Iran at a sensitive and critical moment, creating the risk of such a miscalculation.’

The report also cited sources familiar with the matter who expressed concern that the political leadership might seek ‘to use the issue of Iran for political gain’.

Netanyahu: ‘Nonsense, there was no clash’

Asked about the report during an interview with Channel 14, Netanyahu dismissed it as ‘nonsense’, insisting that ‘there was no clash’ with Zamir.

Earlier in the same interview, the Israeli prime minister had said that he had recently ‘ordered the army and the Mossad to overthrow the Iranian regime’. However, there was no indication that this statement was connected to the specific order issued in recent days to which Channel 12 was referring.

According to the available information, tensions and hostility between Netanyahu and Zamir were evident during a meeting held on Sunday at Palmachim Airbase, where the atmosphere was described as ‘extremely heavy’.

Channel 12 also cited a senior security source who said that ‘history will not forget the role Zamir played in recent days’, without providing further explanation.

A few days earlier, on Thursday, Channel 13 had reported that Zamir had expressed the view at a recent private meeting that there was no operational need to strike Iran before the election.

‘We see no indication that would make a strike against Iran necessary before the election. If we determine that an attack on Iran is necessary, we will carry it out,’ he reportedly said.

In recent weeks, as the election campaign approached its conclusion, reports had intensified suggesting that Netanyahu might be seeking a new confrontation with Iran, either to improve his electoral prospects or potentially to postpone the vote.

The Israeli prime minister has denied having any such intentions.

Opposition fury: ‘He has lost control’

Opposition parties reacted angrily, with Netanyahu’s political opponents arguing that the prime minister posed a threat to the country’s security.

Gadi Eisenkot, widely seen as the opposition’s leading candidate, wrote on X: ‘Netanyahu, I am watching you.’ He added that the prime minister ‘refuses to understand that Israel’s security is not a tool in a political game, that the lives of Israeli citizens and soldiers are not expendable, and that the State of Israel is not his personal property’.

Eisenkot voiced his support for Zamir, declaring that he would not allow ‘the Israeli army to be turned into a tool in Netanyahu’s campaign for political survival’.

Speaking at an election rally shortly before Channel 12 broadcast its report, the leader of the Yashar party had argued that Netanyahu would do anything to remain in power.

‘I look at the polls, I know the figures, and I know Netanyahu,’ he said. ‘He will stop at nothing – neither lies nor extreme measures – to remain in power.’

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, the second-ranking figure in the opposition party B’Yachad, wrote that Netanyahu ‘wants to provoke escalation and conflict with Iran solely to postpone the election’.

‘The man has lost control. We must send him home,’ he added.

Meanwhile, Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democrats party and a former deputy chief of staff of the Israeli military, also expressed support for Zamir.

‘We must not allow any military action that lacks a clear national security rationale, a strategic objective and responsible operational planning,’ he stressed.

He added: ‘When Israeli citizens go to the polls on Tuesday, they must remember that Netanyahu poses a threat to Israel’s security. He will not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of our children for his own political survival on the eve of the election. This is what the army is trying to prevent.’

Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party, took an even harder line.

‘I have no doubt that Bibi is trying to drag Israel by force into a military operation in order to prevent the election. This behaviour amounts to treason against the state and its security,’ he wrote.

He also called on Zamir to protect the military and its soldiers, urging him not to ‘put them at risk because the prime minister is worried that he is about to lose the election’.

Netanyahu issues fresh threats to Iran: ‘Do not test us’

Meanwhile, both Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have stepped up their hard-line rhetoric towards Iran.

On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister again warned that Iran or one of its allies might launch an attack in the coming days, urging Tehran not to ‘test’ Israel.

Speaking in front of an Arrow missile defence battery at Palmachim Airbase, Netanyahu said the military was prepared for every eventuality, both defensively and offensively.

‘We have intelligence from our agencies indicating that Iran and its allies may provoke us with attacks in an attempt to disrupt the election,’ he said, without providing further details.

Netanyahu has issued several similar warnings in recent weeks, prompting reactions from his electoral opponents, who accuse him of fostering an atmosphere of fear and seeking to restart the war with Iran in order to influence or postpone the election scheduled for 27 October.

‘I am warning them,’ he said on Sunday, addressing Tehran. ‘Do not test us. You will be hit with disproportionate force. We are much stronger than you think. Do not underestimate us. Do not test us,’ he added.