Israeli officials call for wider war with Iran after missile attack

Israeli officials and opposition politicians stepped up calls Sunday for a broad military escalation against Iran following missile attacks targeting northern Israel.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the developments marked a “test moment” for Israel, warning against a symbolic or limited response.

“Any containment or symbolic response would send a message that Israeli blood is cheap,” Bennett said in a post on the US social media platform X, urging Israel to act “forcefully and effectively.”

Recent Israeli polls place the Together party — a joint political alliance founded in April by Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid — among the main challengers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar also called for a forceful response against Iran.

“The era of old concepts is over. We must move from defense to offense,” he said on X.

Former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, the leader of the opposition Yisrael Beiteinu party, called for immediate retaliation.

“Enough containment. Israel must respond immediately and strike Iran’s strategic infrastructure,” Liberman said.

The remarks came as Israeli officials signaled that Tel Aviv was preparing a response to the Iranian missile attack.

Iran launched several missile barrages toward northern Israel late Sunday following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs which Tel Aviv claimed targeted a Hezbollah command and planning center.

The Israeli attack killed two people and injured 11 others in a preliminary toll.

The Iranian attack marked the first such bombardment since a fragile ceasefire in early April.

A temporary ceasefire was reached on April 8, but negotiations later stalled amid disputes over its implementation and subsequent regional developments.