Search

Will Iran strike Israel before Trump inauguration?

On the campaign trial and in his victory speech, Trump repeatedly pledged to “end wars,” rather than start them.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli intelligence and defense agencies anticipate that Iran will attack Israel during the final days of the Biden administration, before president-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Due to Trump’s support for Israel and his tough stance on Iran, officials in Tehran may view the period before the inauguration on January 20th as its last opportunity to attack Israel.

According to a report in Hebrew-language outlet Walla, Iran is planning a response to Israel’s October strike on the Islamic Republic, which took out much of the country’s air defenses and crippled its missile and drone manufacturing capabilities.

Defense and intelligence officials, speaking anonymously to the outlet, said that the Iranian attack may come via its regional proxy groups, presumably to create plausible deniability and discourage a retaliatory strike on Iranian soil.

Iran is particularly interested in having its proxies launch an October 7th-style ground invasion of Israel. Originally, Iran planned to have forces – who would not be Iranian army soldiers, but rather members of terror groups such as the Houthis and other Shia-aligned militias – infiltrate Israel via the northern Lebanese and Syrian borders.

Due to Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon and heavy troop presence along the Syrian border, Iran has since abandoned that idea and may be gearing up for an invasion via the Jordanian border.

It’s unclear if Trump would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities with American military assets.

On the campaign trial and in his victory speech, Trump repeatedly pledged to “end wars,” rather than start them.

However, Trump has held at least three phone calls with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days. The premier said that the two men “see eye-to-eye” on pressing issues, presumably including the Iran nuclear threat.

Trump has also signaled that he will resume his previous policies of harsh sanctions against Iran, aimed at freezing the country’s assets and preventing Tehran from funding terror.