Israeli Air Force Chief Says Iran Strike Was Ready Before Trump Intervention Halted It

Israeli Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Omer Tishler said the air force had reached an unprecedented state of readiness for a large-scale strike on Iranian territory, only for the operation to be stopped at the last moment after intervention and pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. His remarks offered a rare look at the extreme tension at Air Force bases and the level of preparation reached by pilots and ground crews for what could have been one of Israel’s most complex military operations.

Tishler said, “The entire air force was ready to take off for a broad strike mission.” He described how the force was put on top alert in a very short time, with hundreds of aircraft prepared for a long-range mission deep inside enemy territory. According to him, the squadrons worked intensively, with “hours from orders to takeoff, shortened alert time, extraordinary flexibility, arming the entire air force, planning, preparation, and readiness to take off to strike hundreds of targets deep in Iran.”

The halt came during the final briefings in the squadrons, when the pilots were already in flight suits and receiving the last operational details. “The strike was stopped while we were briefing in the squadrons, an hour before takeoff for the sortie,” Tishler said.

He said the order to stop came from the political leadership after a diplomatic understanding and Trump’s push to secure calm in the region. The cancellation, he added, prevented a direct and broad military confrontation between Jerusalem and Tehran at the last possible moment.