Israel’s military and defense establishment said on Saturday there was no indication of an imminent Iranian strike or an Israeli plan to hit Iran, after opposition politician Avigdor Liberman warned that Tehran was preparing a surprise attack.
Senior Israeli officials were quoted by Hebrew media as calling Liberman’s post on X “bizarre and detached from reality.” Defense officials told Channel 13 that such comments could lead to a “miscalculation” in which Iran might assume Israel was preparing an assault and respond preemptively.
Sources cited by Ynet said Israel had chosen not to officially reply “so as not to bolster” Liberman’s remarks, adding there was “no substance to them.”
Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beytenu party and a former defense minister, wrote on X on Friday that “whoever thinks the conflict with Iran is over is misled and misleading,” saying that Tehran was restoring activity at its nuclear sites and “trying to surprise us.”
He urged Israelis to celebrate the Sukkot holiday “close to protected spaces,” adding, “This government cannot be trusted. Until we’ve fixed their damage, we have only ourselves and the IDF to rely on.”
In a new post on Saturday, he listed what he called “open-source intelligence,” showing Iran’s missile and nuclear activity since late July, including satellite images at Natanz, reports of missile tests, and new sanctions by the United States and Europe. “All these facts together must lead us to the conclusion that the Iranians are not seeking a Nobel Peace Prize, but revenge,” he wrote, adding that the next confrontation with Iran was “not a question of if, but when.”
The IDF Home Front Command said there were “no changes to its guidelines,” while defense officials accused Liberman of fearmongering.
Officials warn against political missteps
Defense sources told Hebrew outlets that intelligence agencies have not detected preparations for a new Iranian offensive or for Israel to launch one. They warned that inflammatory rhetoric from politicians could prompt Tehran to misread Israel’s posture.
Israeli assessments cited by Ynet indicate that Iran is attempting to rebuild its air defense systems destroyed in the June war and to restart limited ballistic missile production, reportedly seeking technical help from China, Russia, and possibly North Korea. However, the reports said there are no signs Iran has resumed uranium enrichment or nuclear weapons development, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has yet to decide on reactivating those programs.
Officials expressed concern that Iran’s suspension of cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors has left critical blind spots, including uncertainty over its stockpile of roughly 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. Intelligence officials view the chance of Iran producing a crude device or “dirty bomb” as remote.
Kayhan says confrontation 'very probable'
In Tehran, Kayhan—a newspaper supervised by Khamenei’s office—published a Saturday editorial asserting that the world stands “on the brink of a historic turning point.” The paper said a renewed confrontation between Iran and what it called “the American-Zionist front was very probable,” citing Liberman’s own words as proof that Israel was bracing for another war it might not win.
“It is not necessarily the case that this time the opponent will strike first,” Kayhan wrote, arguing that Iran’s unity and deterrence capabilities had prevented its defeat in the 12-day war in June. The editorial linked economic volatility in Iran to foreign hybrid warfare and urged authorities to reinforce “military strength, domestic cohesion, and resistance economics” as protection against renewed aggression.
While Israel’s defense establishment insists calm prevails, Kayhan portrayed the same moment as an approaching inflection point—one in which, it warned, “the future will be shaped by vigilance and strength, or lost to weakness.”
