Netanyahu publicly and harshly rebuked his Defense Minister Katz at a cabinet meeting due to statement on Iran
Israeli Channel 14 revealed on Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reprimanded Defense Minister Israel Katz over his statements about preparations to attack Iran without prior coordination, and considered them to be politically motivated.
The Israeli channel, which is close to the Prime Minister, said that “Netanyahu publicly and harshly rebuked Katz on Thursday evening during a meeting of the Security Cabinet”.
The tension came in the wake of a statement Katz made to the media, in which he said that Israel was waiting for a green light from the US administration to resume attacking targets in Iran.
The statement was issued without coordination with Netanyahu or the relevant political parties, which angered the Prime Minister.
During the meeting, Netanyahu told Katz: “I understand that we are in the primaries, but this isn’t the time to issue headlines without coordinating with me,” referring to the internal elections in the Likud party, which he leads.
Channel 14 saw the statements as reflecting Netanyahu’s belief that the motives for publishing the statement were political and related to the party’s internal calculations, at the expense of diplomatic and security sensitivities towards Washington.
These developments come amid preparations for the expected Israeli general elections next October, where internal polls are being conducted within the Likud party to select its candidates.
In November 2025, the party’s central election committee announced Netanyahu’s unopposed re-election as Likud leader, while the process of selecting candidates for the general elections was still underway.
Katz is considered one of the most prominent leaders of the Likud, as on Thursday, Katz claimed that Israel was waiting for a green light from the United States to resume the war on Iran.
Katz said after a security assessment: “We’re ready to renew the war on Iran… We’re waiting for the green light from the United States, and first and foremost, we will complete the elimination of the dynasty of (the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei)”.
Tehran threatened, saying: “We’ve set our goals; if the war is renewed, we will return Iran to the age of darkness and stone”.
He also claimed that the anticipated attack will be different and more lethal, asserting that it will deliver devastating blows in the most painful places, which will shake and topple the foundations of the regime.
Statements by Israeli officials regarding Israel’s readiness to resume the war against Iran have been repeated recently, which observers believe is part of an effort to incite the US administration to launch another attack.
In contrast, the US administration hasn’t issued any statement in recent days indicating that it moving towards resuming the war on Iran.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced an extension of the truce with Iran at Pakistan’s request until Tehran submits its proposal, without specifying a timeframe.
