The options include a potential strike on a facility in Tehran or a cyberattack, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
“Everybody agrees that Israel must respond,” the official said. “How to respond, when to respond, is the question.”
The United States, the United Nations, and Israel’s European and regional allies have all called for restraint following the Iranian barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles overnight Saturday.
The five-hour, carefully choreographed onslaught — in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria that killed two senior commanders this month — caused limited damage after being repelled by an international alliance including the United States, France and Britain, with assistance from some countries in the Middle East.
The expansive security cooperation stood in contrast to Israel’s recent isolation over the civilian toll of its war against Hamas in Gaza, and gave the country what analysts described as a rare chance to assemble an anti-Iran coalition.
“As much as these are dire times, this is a huge opportunity,” said Udi Sommer, a politics professor at Tel Aviv University and the City University of New York. “Sometimes you get a second chance in life, and Israel just got one.”
But if Israel miscalculates, he said, prioritizing a short-term show of strength ahead of longer-term strategic considerations, the opportunity could slip away.
A restrained military response would reap rewards for Israel on the world stage, Sommer added, helping repair its frayed relationships with the United States and with its Arab neighbors.
“Israel has the ability to get this international coalition in place, keep it, and then deal with the hostage crisis and make sure that next time we look in the mirror, we see a country that we recognize.”
He pointed to the prudence of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir when faced with the threat of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s scud missiles in the 1990s, which Sommer said helped Israel enhance regional peace treaties and strengthen international alliances.
“It had international benefits that were orders of magnitude greater than Israel would have reaped from any military attack,” he said. “Today it’s the same story.”
The United States has pledged its full support for Israel while urging de-escalation, arguing in public statements and private conversations that the successful repelling of the Iranian attack was victory enough. Washington has also emphasized that it won’t participate in whatever military response Israel is planning.
European leaders on Monday morning reiterated their concerns about the potential for the regional security situation to spiral. “The right thing to do is not to escalate,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a BBC television interview. “We are urging them as friends to think with head as well as heart, to be smart as well as tough, and to recognize that Iran suffered this defeat, because the attack was a failure.”
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed similar sentiments: “We are all worried about a possible escalation,” he told French radio.
Israeli officials said they were mindful of the concerns.
“Our allies do not want us to go for an over-the-top response, and we want to work with our allies, especially after the success we enjoyed with them,” the Israeli official said. “We don’t have to cause casualties, but it’s important that we do respond, because it sends a message to all those who want to harm us.”
A strike would do little to help Israel in its battle against Tehran’s proxies in the region and concerns over its nuclear program, said Yair Golan, former deputy IDF chief of staff.
“On different levels of intensity, Israel has been fighting Iran for years,” he said. “It will not stop tomorrow or the next day. And it will not stop if Israel reacts right now.”
“Iran has escalated the war,” Golan explained. “But Israel needs to act smartly in order to strengthen the regional and global front against them.”
The Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, which killed 1,200 people across southern Israel, shattered the nation’s sense of security and the reputation of the military establishment. The performance of its high-tech air defense systems Saturday helped restore some of that lost faith.
“I think we did avoid something terrible Saturday night,” said Yosef Levy, a student buying groceries in Jerusalem on Monday. The walls of the surrounding shops were plastered with posters showing the faces of Israelis still held captive in Gaza — some faded, some recently replaced.
“It was like the world remembered that we are the ones under attack for a minute,” he continued. “I hope it changes something; I hope it ends the war. But I don’t think anything can change until our hostages are back with their families.”
The Israeli public is split on how to proceed in Gaza after six months of grinding war, with some prioritizing the return of the hostages through a deal with Hamas, and others a push to all-out victory.
“We’re being pulled in multiple directions,” said Leigh Sapir, a 39-year-old attorney from Tel Aviv, after she dropped her toddler off at preschool on Monday, the first day that schools were open since the Saturday night attack. “On the one hand I encourage the government to respond and stand their ground, and on the other, I think the focus needs to be on a hostage deal at this point.”
But there has been little progress on that front, with Hamas over the weekend rejecting the latest offer from Israel for at least a temporary pause in its offensive in exchange for the release of some of the more than 100 still in captivity.
It remains unclear how the Iranian attack and its aftermath might affect operations in Gaza. Israel’s military called up two brigades of reserves for “operational missions in the Gaza Strip” on Sunday evening, stoking speculation that a Rafah assault could be accelerated.
But Chuck Freilich, former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council and a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said that the force did not appear to be of the “magnitude” needed for a Rafah operation, adding that it was probably intended to refresh troops along Gaza’s dividing line.
While members of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition have said they will quit the government if Israel does not move on Hamas in Rafah, and are pushing for a harsh response to Iran, the attack has strengthened the prime minister’s hand, Freilich said.
“It puts him in a better position to stand up against his right wing and handle the situation in Gaza with more restraint,” he said. “He has gained some international points, and he doesn’t want to squander them.”
Among Palestinians in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, which has experienced intense Israeli bombardment in recent days, there were fears that they would be the ones to suffer the brunt of Israel’s response.
“The world overwhelmingly supports Israel, turning a blind eye to Gaza’s plight,” said 59-year-old Moreedd al-Assar. “We hold no significance, and the world won’t allow harm to its favored child, Israel.”
Morris reported from Berlin and Rubin from Tel Aviv. Hazem Balousha in Amman, Jordan, Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv and Leo Sands in London contributed to this report.
