Storm before Israel polls: Katz reacts to 'Netanyahu-IDF rift' over Iran strike plans

People walk past a Likud party campaign billboard featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside opposition party leaders and bearing the Hebrew slogan "Right or Palestine," ahead of Israel's general election, in Beni Brak, Israel (AP)Israel's defence minister Israel Katz on Monday denied reports of a rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt General Eyal Zamir over possible military action against Iran, calling the allegations “completely baseless and false” and saying Israel had no intention of launching an attack before Tuesday's elections.According to The Times of Israel, the denial followed reports by Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 that Netanyahu and Zamir were at odds over an unspecified military operation linked to Iran, which security officials reportedly feared could trigger a wider confrontation on the eve of the election. Army Radio reported similar details on Monday, citing two senior security officials.“The reports of disagreements between the political leadership and the IDF on Iran are completely baseless and false,” Katz said in a statement.“I state unequivocally that Israel had no intention of initiating an attack on Iran before the elections in Israel, while making clear that if Iran attacks Israel, we will respond with great force,” he added.Netanyahu also dismissed the allegations as “nonsense” in an interview with Israel's Channel 14, according to The Times of Israel. However, in an earlier television appearance, the Israeli prime minister said he had instructed the IDF and Mossad to work towards toppling the Iranian regime.The controversy follows a report by Channel 12 on Sunday night that Zamir had resisted carrying out an unspecified military action allegedly instructed by Netanyahu. According to the broadcaster, Zamir sought further deliberations and signed documentation from the prime minister regarding legal authorisation for the operation.The report did not disclose the nature of the proposed action or its intended targets, although it linked the alleged instructions to a possible fresh strike on Iran. Channel 12 quoted an unnamed military source as saying, “This relates to an action that could lead to a flare-up with Iran, at a sensitive and dramatic moment, creating this potential miscalculation.”The broadcaster also cited unnamed sources who expressed concern that the political leadership could seek to use the Iran issue for political benefit.Israel polls on knife edge as Netanyahu faces backlash over Iran rowOpinion polls published ahead of Tuesday's parliamentary elections show a tight contest, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc nor the opposition assured of a majority in the 120-member Knesset.The final surveys by Israel's public broadcaster KAN and Channel 12 projected 52 seats for the opposition camp led by Gadi Eisenkot, against 50 for Netanyahu's bloc, leaving both short of the 61 seats needed to form a government.Opposition leaders have accused Netanyahu of putting political survival ahead of national security by allegedly pushing for military action against Iran on the eve of the election.Avigdor Liberman has sought a criminal investigation into Netanyahu over alleged treason, while Eisenkot warned that the military must not be used as a tool in the prime minister's political campaign.