Hegseth held undisclosed meeting with Netanyahu in Israel

Trump weighs renewed Iran operations ahead of Israeli election

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a previously undisclosed meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ovda Air Base in southern Israel on Monday, according to Axios, The New York Times and CBS News, which cited unnamed U.S. military officials and Israeli sources.

Ovda Air Base has hosted a contingent of U.S. refueling planes and fighter aircraft since the two countries jointly attacked Iran in February. Hegseth also met with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz during the visit.

In public statements, Hegseth acknowledged only that he had traveled to meet with U.S. Central Command. He posted online photographs of himself speaking with soldiers in front of a warplane without identifying the location or mentioning Israel.

The visit followed President Donald Trump’s threat of renewed military operations against Iran after the Nov. 3 elections and came days before Israelis head to the polls on Oct. 27 in an election in which Netanyahu is running for an unprecedented seventh term. According to UPI, Netanyahu’s Likud Party-led hard-right coalition faces a tough challenge from the centrist opposition Yashar Party, led by Gadi Eisenkot. On Sunday, Trump endorsed Netanyahu, describing him as “a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Options for a second phase of major combat operations, including the deployment of additional U.S. military forces to the region, are believed to be under review amid Trump’s stated ambivalence about the resumption of hostilities and about the type, intensity and duration of any renewed campaign.

Netanyahu has ruled out Israel joining in any military action in the run-up to the elections, saying it did not suit Israel.

Raz Zimmt, director of the Iran program at the National Security Studies, said the default assumption in both Israel and Iran is that the war would restart, and that the only question is when. “An airstrike alone will probably not achieve the goals the U.S. and Israel hope to complete — but it might give Trump an image of victory and a way out of the war,” Zimmt said.

U.S. Central Command is responsible for an area spanning northeast Africa, the Middle East — including Iran — and Central and South Asia.