Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged multiple retaliatory strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels after a missile fired by the Iran-backed group landed near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
In a video message posted shortly after the attack, Netanyahu said, “We operated against them in the past and we will operate in the future. “The Prime Minister affirmed, “It’s not ‘bang—that’s it, but there will be bangs. “
Earlier, a dramatic media leak revealed that Israel had hatched a plan to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities with assistance from the United States–a plan that failed to receive a green light from US President Donald Trump.
Citing sources in the Trump administration, The New York Times reported that the US President opposes Israeli bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites (which could have taken place in May 2025), in favor of striking a deal with the Iranian leadership.
The report states there were two opposing viewpoints within the administration: one, which included Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, the head of US Central Command (CENTCOM), who backed the bombing plans, and the other, which was concerned about the US getting involved in a regional conflict and insisted on giving diplomacy a chance.
Much to Israel’s chagrin, it is the diplomacy camp that triumphed.
The decision followed months of internal debates within the Trump administration, with one camp backing the bombing when Iran is militarily and economically weak. However, the other camp questioned whether a military strike could realistically destroy Iran’s nuclear ambitions without triggering a larger regional war.
While several analysts and think tanks have noted that bombing Iran’s mostly underground nuclear facilities is unlikely to strip it of its nuclear ambitions, Israeli officials were reportedly planning an attack that would halt the West Asian country’s nuclear program for at least a year.
A host of scenarios were considered. Under Netanyahu’s leadership, the IDF first drafted a plan that might have involved US planes combined with a commando operation on underground nuclear locations. However, Israeli military leaders informed their American counterparts that the operation would not be prepared by October, which prompted a change in strategy to a more extensive air operation that would still not take off without the US support.
General Kurilla and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz favoured the plan. With the White House’s approval, Kurilla even began transferring military assets to the region, and a massive military build-up, including aircraft carriers, missile defense batteries, and other assets, commenced, as previously noted in detail by the EurAsian Times.
Israeli plans significantly depended on US assistance, not only to protect Israel from retribution but also to ensure the success of the operation. Last month, Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran if it did not accept a deal, which may have given hope to Israel.
However, the plan eventually fell apart after the US refused to authorize it, likely based on apprehensions that it could be drawn into a wider regional conflict. Donald Trump, for one, has been known for his propensity to end, not start, conflicts.
The NYT report also states that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to the White House earlier last month in an attempt to persuade Trump to authorize the strike. However, these attempts proved futile, as the US President announced direct talks with Tehran.
Nevertheless, the latest reports suggest that the plan was not canceled, but merely delayed. When asked whether the plan to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities was waived off, Trump said: “I wouldn’t say waived off. I’m not in a rush to do it because I think that Iran has a chance to be a great country and to live happily without death, and I’d like to see that. That’s my first option. If there’s a second option, I think it would be very bad for Iran… I don’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt anybody… but Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
After the plan leaked, an unidentified senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post that the leak about the plan and subsequent reporting is “one of the most dangerous leaks in Israel’s history.” The officials in Israel have criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the leak, with most of them suggesting that he orchestrated the leak to protect himself against criticism for talking rough on Iran but not taking more drastic action against it.
The Israeli media also stated that the country was mulling a bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities since the October 1 attack by Iran. The Jerusalem Post report further stated that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were confident of their abilities to bomb Iran, and the plan had the backing of several senior Israeli officials.
The Israeli media lambasted the NYT report, which stated that Israeli officials did not want to proceed with the strike without US approval.
The former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman wrote in a post on X: “I read the entire leak in the New York Times, and I thought how lucky we were that Netanyahu wasn’t prime minister when we bombed the nuclear reactors in Syria and Iraq.” The Israeli officials have since been mad because the IDF could not pull an ‘Operation Outside the Box’ against Iran.
How Israel Bombed Iraq & Syrian Nuclear Sites?
Before Iran, Syria was alleged to be building a nuclear facility with the help of some foreign experts. This would eventually lead to the bombing of a key Syrian facility called Al-Kibar.
Israel launched ‘Operation Outside the Box’ in late 2004 when Israeli “military intelligence and the [Israeli intelligence agency] Mossad obtained sensitive information regarding foreign experts helping Syria with nuclear activities,” according to an eight-page summary and supporting documentation made public by the Israeli military in 2018.
By January 2006, Israel had obtained “substantial evidence” that Syria was constructing a nuclear reactor. In April that year, Israel also discovered “suspicious buildings” in the Deir ez-Zor region, which is around 450 kilometers northeast of Damascus, further fueling suspicion and anxiety.
In the months of 2007 preceding the attack in early September, Israeli intelligence concentrated on evaluating the complex’s progress and determining when the reactor would start.
It was understood that an attack would result in unaffordable casualties and environmental harm if fuel were loaded into the core. While experts determined the best time for the preemptive strike, Israeli intelligence was trying to provide the “micro-tactical” targeting information required to enable precise strikes on the reactor’s vital systems.
On September 5, 2007, 30 minutes before midnight, two pairs of F-16Is from Squadron 119 and Squadron 253 and four F-15Is from Squadron 69 took off from the southern Hatzerim and Ramon air bases to launch the strike mission. After Israel confirmed that the reactor was destroyed “beyond any chance of rehabilitation,” all eight planes safely returned to base around 2:30 a.m. on September 6.
The reactor, which was hidden deep in a gorge close to the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, was bombed with roughly 20 tons of ground-penetrating explosives from eight front-line fighter jets.
Syrian authorities said that the site that was bombed by Israel was an unused military facility under construction, while adding that the construction work on the building had halted some time before the Israeli strike.
In October that same year, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), an independent American think tank, published satellite images of the site before and after the bombing in late October 2007. The images showed that the site had been destroyed.
Since Syria refused to acknowledge that the site that was bombed by Israel was building a nuclear reactor, the White House said the “cover-up” effort that Syria carried out after the Israeli air assault bolstered its belief that the purported reactor “was not intended for peaceful activities”.
“Until 6 September 2007, the Syrian regime was building a covert nuclear reactor in its eastern desert capable of producing plutonium,” the statement said. “The Syrian regime must come clean before the world regarding its illicit nuclear activities.”
On its part, Israel admitted the strike more than a decade later, in 2018. “The Israeli government, the Israel Defense Forces, and the Mossad [intelligence services] prevented Syria from developing nuclear capability. They are worthy of full praise for this,” Benjamin Nethanyu wrote on X (formerly Twitter). He also noted that Israel was determined to prevent its adversaries from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The IDF stated that, “in light of the highly sensitive security situation,” it was decided not to confirm the strike or release any further details.
Declassifying the operation, Israeli Air Force Commander Amikam Norkin asked, ”What kind of situation would we be in if there were a nuclear reactor in Syria today?” He oversaw the preparation and implementation of the “precision, low-signature” hit mission while serving as head of operations.
“From a historical perspective, I think the Israeli government decision to act and destroy the reactor is one of the most important decisions that were taken here over the last 70 years,” he added.
However, long before that, Israel had bombed an unfinished nuclear reactor in Iraq in June 1981, in a surprise air strike. Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, had started constructing nuclear reactors with assistance from France. This was considered an immediate threat by Israel, and it decided to remove these nuclear facilities.
In June 1981, the IDF had targeted the Osirak nuclear research reactor at the Tuwaitha Nuclear Center in central Iraq, which was only 17 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, on the premise that Iraq would eventually build nukes and jeopardize Israeli security.
Eight F-16 fighter jets from squadrons 110 and 117 were utilized in the mission, with six F-15A fighter jets serving as backup. In addition to the fighter jets, this operation involved over 60 more aircraft. With the radars turned off, the plane departed Israel in radio silence and traveled 1100 kilometers. When they got there, they bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor.
“On June 7, 1981, at 16:00, 14 fighter jets departed from Etzion Airport in Israel. At approximately 17:30, they struck and destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, completing their mission,” as per IDF’s account.
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