Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already set the country on a warpath with Iran months before his Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump, The Washington Post has reported citing Israeli and US officials.
The report claims that after Israel dismantled Iran's air defences and severely weakened its proxy Hezbollah in October last year, Netanyahu issued a general order to prepare for a strike. Israeli intelligence began compiling lists of nuclear scientists and military commanders for targeted killings, while the air force launched operations to neutralise air defence systems across Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.
By March this year, Israeli officials had already decided to strike Iran by June, with or without US involvement, citing concerns that Tehran would soon rebuild its air defences, sources said. This decision reportedly came weeks before Netanyahu met Trump on April 7.
"It is true there was no better time: Israelis have never been more well-practised, and Iran and their proxies have never been weaker," said an Israeli official. "But that's not enough for us to operate. The reason we operated is necessity and understanding there is no alternative."
The June 13 strike was not pushed by fresh intelligence suggesting an imminent Iranian breakout toward a nuclear weapon, but rather by a strategic opportunity to cripple Tehran's nuclear infrastructure while it was vulnerable. In recent interviews, Netanyahu said he made the "difficult" decision months earlier but finalised the timing just two weeks before the attack.
"Those were my instructions. We're going after the scientists, take them out," Netanyahu said on Israeli TV.
Israel's intelligence services spent years tracking the scientists, with Mossad running a covert campaign that involved smuggling kamikaze drones and missile launchers into Iran. The assassination campaign and airstrikes that followed are said to have killed at least 10 top scientists and damaged key elements of Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.
While Israeli officials believed Iranian scientists were quietly resuming work on weaponisation, US intelligence, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, maintained that Iran's leadership had not ordered a nuclear bomb. Trump, however, dismissed that assessment, telling reporters he believed Iran was "very close" to acquiring one.
While the Israeli security establishment largely backed the decision as a "preventive strike", some officials questioned the wisdom of launching an attack while diplomatic talks led by Trump's envoy were ongoing.
"We should have given the political route a chance," said Danny Citrinowicz, a former senior Israeli intelligence official. "We got operational achievements, but the risks are enormous."
Netanyahu has for over 30 years maintained that Iran's nuclear ambitions warrant military intervention. "All the scientists who were sneaking around," said a close adviser to Netanyahu, "most of them are now sneaking around in hell."
