JERUSALEM, Oct 26 — Israel’s defence minister denied on Monday reports of a rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the army over Iran, as the premier’s rivals seized on the story as a line of attack a day before close elections.
Over the course of a neck-and-neck race, Netanyahu has campaigned heavily on his security credentials, insisting only he can “finish the job” in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
But his main rival, ex-army chief Gadi Eisenkot, has accused him of playing up the Iran threat when it suits him politically, and of failing to accomplish his war goals.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources, that there had been a confrontation between Netanyahu and army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir over an unspecified new directive on Iran.
