Netanyahu urges Trump to strike Iran right after midterms, Israeli media reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged US President Donald Trump to immediately resume strikes against Iran right after the US midterm elections, Israeli media reported Sunday (local time). Trump acknowledged that day that he had spoken with Netanyahu about Iran and related matters but declined to share details.

Israel's Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu called Trump on Sunday and strongly pressed him to resume strikes against Iran immediately after the US midterm elections on Tuesday. Citing Israeli and American sources familiar with the matter, Channel 12 said the two leaders held sharply divergent views during the call on the ongoing US-Iran negotiations being mediated by Qatar.

Netanyahu argued for resuming strikes, expressing concern that the ongoing diplomatic negotiations would significantly ease pressure on Iran. Trump, however, wanted more time for diplomatic negotiations with Iran and preferred that Israel refrain from interfering in US efforts to reach a diplomatic solution with Iran, at least for now.

Channel 12 also reported that Qatar, acting as mediator, had held talks with Iranian officials in Doha for three consecutive days and was maintaining direct contact with US Vice President JD Vance, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

When asked by reporters that day, Trump said he had "a good discussion with Prime Minister Netanyahu about Iran and other things" but offered no specifics on what was discussed. The White House and the Israeli Prime Minister's Office both declined to comment after the report emerged.

Trump has been publicly signaling that strikes against Iran could resume while simultaneously reaching out to Iranian hardliners in search of a diplomatic resolution. Vance recently sent a letter, at Trump's direction, to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary-general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and a leading hardliner. Iranian media reported that even after Iran's leadership received the letter, National Assembly Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf emphasized on X, formerly Twitter, that Iran had no intention of changing its existing negotiating terms.