Washington asked Israel to strike Iran alone... then backed off

The Israeli newspaper Maariv revealed that Washington proposed during talks with Tel Aviv over the past two weeks the possibility of Israel carrying out an attack on Iran alone before the US midterm elections, before the US administration backed off from this proposal at least for now. According to the report, Washington sought to avoid the political consequences of direct US participation in a military operation against Iran before the elections, and proposed that Israel bear the risks of the attack. The position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on launching a unilateral Israeli attack on Iran was not clear. Meanwhile, discussion of military options for dealing with Iran continues within the US administration, as The Atlantic magazine reported on October 7 that the White House asked the War Department to prepare options for striking Iranian targets before the midterm elections, while US Central Command is preparing the options. The Pentagon also presented Trump in recent weeks with options to resume military operations after the elections, ranging from limited strikes to broader operations.