A military spokesperson in Tel Aviv said on Wednesday that the Israeli army was on high alert and ready to join the war alongside the US military against Iran as soon as it received orders from the government. The Walla news site said the preparations had been in place since the first day of the ceasefire because Israel did not trust Iranian promises and viewed them as mere maneuvers. “The Iranian leadership, intoxicated by an imagined victory, is not making the responsible calculations required of any government before going to war. It is acting arrogantly, as though it won the war, and is trying to blackmail the United States,” if added, noting that Israel had expected US President Donald Trump’s patience with Tehran to run out. Walla also said the Israeli army had remained in close contact with US Central Command, or CENTCOM, to discuss what it described as the high likelihood of a resumption of the war, review the experience of the two previous wars in June 2025 and February 2026, and draw lessons from them to improve performance and prepare a new target bank for a third war that Israel sees as inevitable. The most recent coordination meeting between the two commands was held at the end of last week in preparation for a scenario in which the confrontations resume. Iranian actions had topped the agenda of a visit that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been scheduled to make on Wednesday before canceling it at the last minute, causing significant embarrassment in Tel Aviv. A senior political source close to Netanyahu said Hegseth had been due to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his counterpart, Defense Minister Israel Katz. According to the sources, one of the aims of the visit was to calm Israeli concerns over the possible sale of advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets to Türkiye. Israel is deeply concerned by the move, and some officials have begun mobilizing pressure in Congress to block its approval. According to a report by Israel’s Channel 12, Israeli security agencies warn that Türkiye’s possession of advanced US stealth fighter jets, namely the F-35, could harm what Tel Aviv describes as the Israeli air force’s “qualitative edge” in the Middle East and restrict its ability to operate in arenas Israel considers central, including Iran, Syria, Lebanon and the wider eastern Mediterranean. In an interview with CNN, Netanyahu said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was “not exactly a model ally of the United States,” adding that he “threatens to destroy my country, the only Jewish state,” according to Netanyahu. Israel is currently the only country in the Middle East operating F-35 aircraft, the most advanced fighter jet in the US arsenal. A report by Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday said friction between Israel and Türkiye was no longer limited to political or rhetorical disputes and now extended to four main arenas of concern to Israel’s security establishment. The first arena is the negotiations with Iran, where Israel views Türkiye’s role as an attempt to prevent Tehran’s defeat in a way that would lead to wider Israeli dominance in the region. The second arena relates to the Gaza Strip. The report points to Türkiye’s support for Hamas and claims that an arm of the movement operates from inside Türkiye and manages activities against Israel from there. The third arena is Syria, where Israel is concerned by Turkish efforts to expand its influence after the changes the country has undergone. According to Channel 12, the Israeli air force is working to prevent the consolidation of a Turkish foothold in Syria, including through repeated strikes on the T4 base. Israel is also seeking to prevent Ankara from arming the Syrian army with drones and air defense systems. The fourth arena, which the report says is taking shape, is the eastern Mediterranean maritime front. Israel fears an expanding Turkish presence in an area Tel Aviv views as vital to its military and economic activity and to its relations with Greece and Cyprus. According to the report, Türkiye is already developing advanced military industries, including defense systems and ballistic missiles, and is seeking to build its own stealth fighter, called Kaan. But the project faces major difficulties, particularly over engines, as Türkiye does not yet have the independent capacity to develop an engine suitable for this type of aircraft, prompting it to request US-made F110 engines. But the violation of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran has pushed this issue into the background, even for Israel. It prefers to focus on what it has in common with the Americans, not on what divides it from them. While Iran considered Israel’s continued military operations in Lebanon a violation of the US-Iranian agreement, Israel initiated a larger escalation in Lebanon in recent hours after Trump announced the cancellation of the ceasefire. According to political sources in Tel Aviv, the escalation was not only a way to vent frustration over the anger caused by the halt to the war, but also a means of dragging the Revolutionary Guards leadership into the war and blowing up the negotiations entirely.
