Trump and Netanyahu Clash Over Iran Military Action Timing

Good Morning, Israel · Monday, November 2, 2026 · 7:32

Good Morning, Israel · Episode 36

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1. Trump and Netanyahu Clash Over Iran Military Action Timing
2. Israel Election Chief Affirms Vote Integrity Amid Foreign Interference Claims
3. Trump Confirms Discussing Iran With Netanyahu Amid Reports of Disagreement
4. Eilat Teen Suspected of Raping Over a Dozen Children
5. Democrat Haley Stevens Endorses Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan Senate Seat
6. Herzog Begins Consultations to Task Next Israeli Government Formateur

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Maya

President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu don't agree on when to act against Iran, and that disagreement just spilled into the open.

Daniel

One wants strikes soon after the American midterms. The other wants more time for diplomacy.

Maya

This is Good Morning, Israel from baba News. It's Monday, November second. I'm Maya.

Daniel

And I'm Daniel.

Maya

So, a phone call on Saturday. How did it go?

Daniel

Depends who you ask. Reports describe it as a tough call. President Trump confirmed it happened and called it very good.

Maya

Those aren't quite the same adjective.

Daniel

Not quite. But both sides agree on the subject, which was Iran. According to the reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged resuming military strikes right after the U S midterm elections.

Maya

And Trump?

Daniel

He prefers to keep pushing diplomacy for now. The call came right after a military briefing at the White House.

Maya

So Washington is preparing on two tracks at once.

Daniel

Exactly. Diplomatic and military preparations running in parallel. And Qatar is involved too, with Qatari mediators talking to Tehran.

Maya

Is that going anywhere?

Daniel

Not yet. According to Iran's Foreign Minister, no agreement has been reached.

Maya

Why does Netanyahu want to move now?

Daniel

From Israel's side, Iran is the top strategic threat, and every month of talks is a month Tehran can use. Israel has long argued that diplomacy without a credible military threat behind it doesn't stop the regime.

Maya

And the timing at home makes it harder.

Daniel

Right. Israel is between elections and a new government, so any decision this big lands on a caretaker government.

Maya

Which brings us to the vote itself. On Friday we told you the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, was ordered to investigate alleged foreign funding in the election.

Daniel

And now the man who ordered that probe has spoken. Noam Sohlberg, chairman of the Central Elections Committee, says the election was conducted properly and the results are valid.

Maya

Even with the investigation still open?

Daniel

Yes. He acknowledged there are serious suspicions that need to be investigated. But he stressed they're unlikely to overturn the overall results.

Maya

And he didn't say it alone.

Daniel

No. Other top legal and security officials stood with him. It was a deliberate united front against claims of fraud, especially those coming from Netanyahu's Likud party.

Maya

How did Likud take it?

Daniel

Not well. Likud criticized what it sees as a premature dismissal of the interference's impact, before the investigation has even finished.

Maya

Which is a fair procedural question.

Daniel

It's their argument, anyway. On the other side, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, the former I D F Chief of Staff, welcomed Sohlberg's statement and accused Likud of trying to delegitimize the vote.

Maya

And inside the Shin Bet itself?

Daniel

There are reported divisions over how the investigation is being handled. There's also been a rise in anti-Arab sentiment online. The probe focuses on alleged funding of Arab parties, so it's touching a raw nerve.

Maya

So, results valid, questions open. What happens next?

Daniel

Wednesday. President Isaac Herzog begins consultations with every faction in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, to decide who gets the first shot at forming a government.

Maya

And it's on television.

Daniel

Broadcast live. Invitations went out on Sunday.

Maya

Who's backing whom?

Daniel

Some parties are expected to recommend Netanyahu, others Eisenkot. The open questions are Yisrael Beytenu, a secular right-wing party, and a party called Together. Their recommendations are unclear.

Maya

And the ultra-Orthodox?

Daniel

United Torah Judaism, one of the Haredi parties, may not recommend anyone at all.

Maya

Abstaining can be a strategy too.

Daniel

Sometimes the most powerful thing in coalition talks is staying uncommitted.

Maya

Now a deeply disturbing case from Eilat, the Red Sea resort city at Israel's southern tip.

Daniel

An eighteen-year-old Eilat resident is suspected of raping and committing other sexual offenses against thirteen children. Some were as young as seven.

Maya

Where does the case stand?

Daniel

Police have wrapped up a twenty-day investigation, and a prosecutor intends to indict him. According to the reports, he confessed to numerous crimes.

Maya

Who worked the investigation?

Daniel

Specialists and social services were involved alongside police. In cases with child victims, that's essential, both for getting testimony and for supporting the children.

Maya

Thirteen families now facing the hardest kind of recovery.

Daniel

And an indictment expected soon.

Maya

Across the Atlantic, a Senate race in Michigan has become a story about Israel.

Daniel

Right. Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens has endorsed the Republican, Mike Rogers, for the U S Senate over her own party's nominee, Abdul El-Sayed.

Maya

That's not something you see every day.

Daniel

No. Stevens pointed to two things. El-Sayed refused to condemn an ad that blamed Israel for grocery prices.

Maya

Wait, grocery prices?

Daniel

Grocery prices. And she cited his association with an anti-Israel streamer.

Maya

How has it landed?

Daniel

It's deepened divisions inside the Democratic Party and among Jewish voters. Some Democratic leaders criticized her, President Trump praised her, and some of her staff resigned.

Maya

Is she leaving the party?

Daniel

She says she's still a Democrat. But it's a sign of how far hostility toward Israel has become a dividing line in American politics.

Maya

A few shorter items now. Turkey first.

Daniel

Ammar Najm, forty-one, from Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel, was killed in a hit-and-run in Turkey on Sunday. His son was moderately injured.

Maya

They were on vacation.

Daniel

A family trip. His son received hospital treatment. The family is now asking for help to bring his body back to Israel for burial.

Maya

And a very different travel story. Israelis heading to Japan, take note.

Daniel

Since November first, tax refunds for tourists are being processed at the airport. That means arriving three and a half to four hours before your flight.

Maya

That's a lot of time with the duty-free shops.

Daniel

It is. And today Japan is releasing updated recommendations on natural disaster preparedness, urging people to stock supplies.

Maya

Should travelers worry?

Daniel

No. These are described as routine preventive measures. Japan sits in one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world, so it updates these regularly.

Maya

Finally, a tragedy in Petah Tikva, a city just east of Tel Aviv.

Daniel

Police are investigating a suspected murder-suicide. A man allegedly killed his forty-three-year-old wife with an axe while their children were present. He's then believed to have taken his own life.

Maya

The children were there.

Daniel

They were. Medical teams pronounced the woman dead at the scene. Authorities are gathering evidence to understand what led up to it.

Maya

A heartbreaking case, and those children will need a lot of support.

Daniel

They will.

Maya

So, one thing to watch. Tomorrow, the American midterm elections.

Daniel

Right. According to the reports, that's the moment Netanyahu wants the Iran decision to follow. So once the votes are in, the question is whether Trump sticks with diplomacy, or the clock starts moving.

Maya

And then Wednesday, Herzog's consultations, live.

Daniel

Follow Good Morning, Israel so tomorrow's episode is waiting for you.

Maya

See you tomorrow morning.