Israeli leaders debate attack on Iran: 'grave mistake' or 'good start'?

The Israeli attack in Iran has drawn both criticism and applause at home from across the political spectrum.

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who criticized Israel's restrained response to the Iranian attack in April, wrote a more positive post on his X account this time, saying that the strike "was a good beginning in order to target Iran's strategic assets, which needs to be the next phase." He added, "We have a historic duty to remove the Iranian threat."

The attack was also praised by opposition leader Yair Golan, head of the Israeli Labor Party, for "harming Iran's defensive and offensive capabilities without dragging us into a war of attrition."

However, the strike was criticized for not inflicting serious damage to either Iranian economics by striking oil reserves or to Iran's nuclear program.

Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition, wrote on Saturday on his X account that Iran should have "paid a much heavier price" and that "the decision not to attack strategic and economic targets in Iran was wrong."

Tally Gotliv, a member of the Knesset from Netanyahu's governing Likud party, used even stronger words, saying that "Not striking Iran's nuclear facilities will be a cause for regret for generations. Not striking Iran's oil reserves is a grave mistake." She added, "Unfortunately, this is submission to the Biden administration which doesn't think for a moment about Israel's interests."

On Saturday, Israel struck a number of military targets in Iran in response to the Iranian attack on October 1. The Israeli attack in the early hours of Saturday morning was carried out by air force, striking, among other targets, missile manufacturing facilities.

The Prime Minister's office issued a denial of Hebrew media report arguing that Israel initially planned to strike Iran's oil and natural gas facilities, but changed its plan after persistent US pressure. "Israel chose the targets ahead of time, based on its national interests," said the PMO, "and not based on American directives."

"Israel did not notify Iran before the attack -- not about the timing, not about the targets, and not about the scale of the attack," said another statement from the Prime Minister's office.