The Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" quoted senior Israeli officials saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stopped the preventive attack on Hezbollah on October 11 by forming the emergency government on that day.

According to sources, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi, and other senior officials in the defense establishment supported the attack because it could cause a strategic change and alter Israel's threat map. However, Netanyahu feared opening another large front amid the fighting in the Gaza Strip, so, as the officials said, Netanyahu delayed the decision to attack until the emergency government was formed and Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot were placed in the war government — which opposed this step. Ultimately, the government decided to prevent the attack in Lebanon and focus on the front against Hamas.

These statements contradict a report by The Wall Street Journal earlier on Saturday, which stated that the attack was prevented under pressure from U.S. President Joe Biden.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Biden was able to convince Netanyahu to stop a plan to carry out a preemptive strike against Hezbollah in Lebanon four days after Hamas's attack on October 7. According to the report, Biden warned Netanyahu that such an attack could ignite a regional war.

Sources speaking to the newspaper said Israel had direct information that Hezbollah terrorists were preparing to cross the border into Israeli territory. According to the sources, the Americans believed the information was unreliable. Moreover, Israeli fighter jets were already in the air awaiting instructions, while Biden was speaking with Netanyahu by phone and asked him to withdraw and consider the consequences of such an action — according to sources commenting on the details of the conversation.