Katz: The War on Iran Was Originally Scheduled for Mid-2026, and Trump's Position Accelerated Its Launch

SadaNews - Israeli Minister of Security, Israel Katz, stated that the war on Iran was originally planned for mid-2026 but was moved forward to the end of February due to developments in Iran and the position of U.S. President Donald Trump, which enabled the execution of a "joint operation".

Katz made these remarks on Wednesday during a visit to the Israeli Military Intelligence Division (Aman), where he spoke to soldiers and officers of the division about the preparations that preceded the attack on Iran.

Katz noted that the Israeli army cannot wage the same war twice, adding, "When we talked after the very successful operation (referring to the war on Iran last June), I said that we cannot fight the war that was fought, but we must prepare for the next war".

He added that a large part of the intelligence and military capabilities were "used and exhausted" during previous operations, posing a challenge in rebuilding and expanding intelligence capabilities.

Katz stated, "Many intelligence capabilities and others were utilized or revealed, so the challenge was to rebuild the intelligence capability, not just to rebuild it but to expand it tenfold, and this has actually happened across all of Iran".

Katz mentioned that the war on Iran was initially scheduled for mid this year "with the same objective that was set", but political and field developments led to its rescheduling. He said: "Because of developments and circumstances, especially what happened inside Iran, and the position of the President of the United States, and the possibility of executing a joint operation, the need arose to move everything to February".

He added that bringing the operation forward was something the Israeli leadership hoped to achieve but was not confident it could happen, praising the role of the intelligence division in accelerating preparations.

For his part, the head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Division, Shlomi Bender, stated that the intelligence agencies are working according to established plans. He added: "We are moving in the right direction, we are adhering to the timeline, and the intelligence is reaching the missions that we need to accomplish, and we hope to continue advancing with this strength".