Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iran and its allies against attempting to disrupt Israel's parliamentary election on Tuesday 27 October, saying the country's military is prepared for both defensive and offensive operations.

What Netanyahu said

Standing beside an Arrow missile defence system in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israeli intelligence had detected signs that Iran and its proxies could try to attack Israel to interfere with the vote. 'Do not test us. You will suffer blows of disproportionate force,' he said in a video message on Sunday.

The warning puts national security at the centre of the final hours of the campaign. Netanyahu has repeatedly presented himself as the leader best placed to handle the Iranian threat, pointing to the war on Iran launched by Israel and the US in February. It is Israel's first election since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks.

A reported disagreement at the top

Separately, Israel's Channel 12 has reported a confrontation between Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff General Eyal Zamir over military action, citing anonymous sources. The network said Zamir had sought further deliberations and signed documentation on legal authorisation, amid speculation the instructions concerned a fresh attack on Iran. Netanyahu has dismissed the allegations as nonsense in interviews with Israeli television.

The reports are unconfirmed and rest on unnamed sources, so they should be read as a sign of tension in the public debate rather than as established fact. What is certain is the timing: voters go to the polls on Tuesday, with pollsters projecting a close race between Netanyahu and his closest rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.