Netanyahu claims Iran could disrupt Israel election, threatens 'disproportionate blows'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday, October 25, that Iran and its allies might try to disrupt the upcoming Israeli election on Tuesday, October 27. The Prime Minister issued the statement in a pre-recorded video.

“We have intelligence signs that our enemies, Iran and its proxies, could challenge us with attacks in order to disrupt the elections,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video released by his office.

“I warn them,” he continued. “Don’t test us. You will suffer disproportionate blows.” He warned that the IDF was ready for both defensive and offensive operations.

Benjamin Netanyahu has built his entire re-election campaign around his hawkish national security record. According to a Maariv poll conducted by Lazar Research, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition are trailing at 41% the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot at 49%. The same Maariv poll found former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ahead of Netanyahu, 45% to 43%.

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Netanyahu is framing himself as strong, capable of leading Israel through the military conflict in Iran. He framed opponents as “weak”. Likud party billboards erected across cities like Bnei Brak feature Netanyahu against a backdrop of opposition leaders with the stark slogan "Right or Palestine". Earlier today, Netanyahu posted an image of a bomb with a mushroom cloud engulfing the skylines, framing Iran as an “existential danger”. A day earlier, he posted a video of himself in front of a fighter jet speaking to US President Donald Trump by phone, saying they would "finish the job" together

According to a report from the New York Times and the Financial Times, Trump and Netanyahu are planning to drop the “Mother of all bombs”, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, in Iran, but they remain divided on the timing. Trump called it a mini nuclear bomb with a lethal blast radius equivalent to roughly nine city blocks. The Pentagon and the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have developed plans for an intensive 3-day campaign. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has aggressively pushed for the strike to happen before Israel’s October 27 election, specifically during the weekend of October 10. However, Trump had vetoed it and had stated that there would be no Iran strikes ahead of the midterms.