Israel Warns US of Potential Iranian Chemical Weapons Use

Good Morning, Israel · Wednesday, November 4, 2026 · 8:00

Good Morning, Israel · Episode 38

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The stories Maya and Daniel cover, in order. Read any of them in full on baba News.

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Maya: Israel says Iran may be weighing chemical weapons against its neighbors, and it has passed that warning to Washington.
Daniel: And some in Washington aren't buying it, at least not yet.
Maya: This is Good Morning, Israel from baba News. It's Wednesday, November fourth. I'm Maya.
Daniel: And I'm Daniel.
Maya: On Monday we talked about Israel and the U S disagreeing on when to act against Iran. This is a different layer. What exactly is Israel saying?
Daniel: Israel has told the United States that intelligence suggests Iran is considering using chemical weapons against regional adversaries. It has shared the same concerns with Gulf countries.
Maya: Chemical weapons. Not the nuclear program we usually talk about.
Daniel: Right, and that's the striking part. Israeli intelligence reportedly sees the chemical threat as more urgent than Iran's nuclear program.
Maya: More urgent. Why?
Daniel: The reports don't spell out the reasoning. They do note that deploying chemical weapons comes with real technical challenges. But the assessment is that the danger is close enough to raise now.
Maya: And the pushback?
Daniel: Some U S officials are skeptical. Their claim is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be trying to provoke American military action. Some in the Gulf also questioned the evidence.
Maya: Which fits neatly with Monday's story about the timing disagreement.
Daniel: It does, and that's the context. Israel has consistently treated the regime in Tehran as the top strategic threat, and it argues that waiting gives Iran time. Raising a warning with allies before something happens is exactly what an intelligence service is supposed to do.
Maya: Anyone in Washington on the record?
Daniel: No. The White House and the C I A declined to comment.
Maya: So for now, a warning on the table and no official answer.
Daniel: And the question of whether the Gulf states take it seriously enough to prepare.
Maya: From Iran to Israel's own election. We've been following the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, and its probe into alleged foreign funding in the vote. This week it escalated.
Daniel: The Shin Bet chief, David Zini, asked to question four Arab lawmakers over the alleged foreign interference.
Maya: Sitting lawmakers. That's a big step.
Daniel: Huge. And on Tuesday, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said no, at least for now. She cited the need for evidence and asked the Shin Bet to provide it.
Maya: So not a permanent no. More like, show me.
Daniel: Exactly. Show me first, then we'll talk about interrogations.
Maya: How did the politicians react?
Daniel: Loudly. Netanyahu's Likud party accused the Attorney General of obstruction. And National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for her to be fired. He accused the lawmakers of stealing the election.
Maya: That's not a phrase you use lightly.
Daniel: No. On the other side, former I D F Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot called the Shin Bet move politically motivated. Yair Golan, another opposition leader, suggested the Shin Bet was being politicized.
Maya: And the Arab parties themselves?
Daniel: Interesting split. Mansour Abbas, head of the United Arab List, said he's willing to cooperate. The Joint List, another Arab party alliance, warned against politicizing the Arab vote.
Maya: Why does this matter beyond the shouting?
Daniel: Two reasons. Arab parties can be pivotal in coalition math, so any cloud over them shapes who can form a government. And it raises a basic question for Israel's institutions: how hard a security service should push on elected officials, and on what evidence.
Maya: And the clock is running.
Daniel: It is. Official election results are expected soon. So the Shin Bet's next move, whether it hands over evidence, could land right as the results become final.
Maya: Now a statement from President Trump that apparently caught Jerusalem off guard.
Daniel: Trump announced he'd struck a deal with Netanyahu to end U S military aid to Israel. He put it at four billion dollars a year, and said Israel no longer needs the money.
Maya: And he says Netanyahu started the conversation.
Daniel: That's his claim. The problem is, Israel's Finance Ministry and the I D F say they had no idea. Neither knew of any such intention or agreement.
Maya: Wait. The people who would actually have to replace the money weren't told?
Daniel: Apparently not. And now they're assessing what it would mean if the aid stopped earlier than planned.
Maya: Remind us what's in place now.
Daniel: The current package is worth three point eight billion dollars a year, and it runs until the end of twenty twenty-eight.
Maya: So the real question is, does this change the end date, or just the next deal?
Daniel: That's unclear. The details haven't been laid out. It's worth noting Netanyahu has talked before about gradually reducing aid, and broadening Israel's alliances. So the direction isn't new.
Maya: Just the speed.
Daniel: And the surprise. It also came in the middle of the American midterm elections, which may tell you something about the audience.
Maya: Let's do a quick round. First, a terror cell in Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank.
Daniel: Police and the Shin Bet arrested six suspects from Jenin. They're accused of manufacturing rocket bodies and explosives.
Maya: Rockets. In the West Bank.
Daniel: Yes, and according to the investigation they carried out three test launches there. Security forces seized combat equipment, including an M sixteen rifle and an R P G body.
Maya: Where did they learn to build it?
Daniel: Investigators say the cell got instructions for the explosives from a foreign entity, through a messaging app. An indictment is coming.
Maya: Which is the worrying part. Rocket know-how, delivered by phone.
Daniel: Right, and stopping it at the testing stage is exactly the point.
Maya: Next, a major crime crackdown in Umm al Fahm, a large Arab city in northern Israel.
Daniel: Police arrested forty-seven suspects and seized tens of millions of shekels on Tuesday. Several agencies worked together, going after money laundering, hidden revenue, and illegal employment of Palestinians.
Maya: Anything else in the haul?
Daniel: Vehicles, large amounts of counterfeit goods, and meat that wasn't fit to eat.
Maya: Never a sentence you want to hear.
Daniel: The stated goal is going after crime to protect law-abiding residents, who have suffered most from it.
Maya: Business now. NICE, the Israeli software company.
Daniel: NICE is laying off about five hundred employees, roughly five percent of its workforce. It's restructuring for the A I era, aiming to build artificial intelligence into the customer service systems it sells.
Maya: How did investors react?
Daniel: The stock fell six percent. And it comes just ahead of its third quarter results. The company says Israeli staff should be only minimally affected.
Maya: And finally, a deal more than ten years in the making. With Kazakhstan.
Daniel: Israel and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to prevent double taxation, on Monday, in Jerusalem.
Maya: Meaning businesses don't pay tax on the same income in both countries.
Daniel: Exactly, which makes investing across the border more attractive. They also signed understandings on A I, labor and cybersecurity, plus a joint declaration on space cooperation.
Maya: Who came to sign?
Daniel: Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister, Zhaslan Madiyev. It's the highest level Kazakh visit to Israel in a decade.
Maya: Ten years of talks, and they still found time to add space.
Daniel: Ambitious, when your first job was sorting out the tax forms.
Maya: Before we go, one thing to watch.
Daniel: The Shin Bet's answer to the Attorney General. If it produces evidence, the questioning of the four lawmakers could be back on, just as official results come in.
Maya: And President Herzog's consultations with the Knesset factions, which we told you were set to begin today, will show who gets the first shot at forming a government.
Daniel: Follow Good Morning, Israel so tomorrow's episode is waiting for you.
Maya: See you tomorrow morning.

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