Israel has finalized plans for its counterstrike on Iran and is prepared to carry it out before the U.S. presidential election next month, according to a new report.
Sources told CNN on Wednesday that Israel has an attack strategy in place, plans to execute a counterstrike before the Nov. 5 elections, and has provided assurances it will not target Tehran’s contested military sites or its oil infrastructure, focusing instead on what officials called "military targets" inside the Islamic Republic.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised earlier this month, after Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack, that Israel would conduct a counterstrike at a time and place of its choosing. The Biden-Harris administration, meanwhile, has been scrambling to contain Israel’s response, putting pressure on the Jewish state to refrain from hitting the hardline regime’s nuclear facilities.
Israel’s impending attack has the potential to keep the Middle East conflict at the top of American voters' minds going into Election Day. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has sought to shore up support among the Democratic Party’s anti-Israel flank, with the Biden-Harris administration confirming on Tuesday that it is threatening to cut off American arms shipments to the Jewish state if it does not do more to pump humanitarian aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip, where Hamas is still holding onto power.
One source told CNN that Netanyahu is very conscious of the upcoming U.S. election but deems a retaliatory strike on Iran as necessary to deter the hardline regime and ensure Israelis that their country is protected.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu's office said it was cognizant of U.S. concerns about a strike but could not stand down.
"We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests," Netanyahu's office said at the time.