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According to senior US officials speaking to Axios, Israel was planning to conduct a retaliatory strike against Iran on Monday night but decided to postpone the decision.

Israeli and US sources revealed that the Israeli war cabinet had contemplated authorizing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to launch an attack. However, by the end of the night, it was decided for operational reasons not to proceed with any military action at this time.

The decision comes after Iran launched nearly 350 drones and missiles targeting Israel on April 13, in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike earlier in the month in Syria that killed a top Iranian general. Most of the Iranian projectiles were intercepted by a coalition of forces including Israel, the US, UK, France, and Jordan.

Behind the scenes, discussions among Israeli officials have been intense. IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Hertzi Halevi, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and other military leaders have been advocating for a response. In contrast, figures such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-orthodox Shas party, have adopted a more cautious approach. Deri, in a statement to his party’s newspaper, stressed the importance of restraint and the advice of international allies, suggesting that Israel should avoid escalating conflicts unnecessarily.

This all comes after Netanyahu met on Wednesday with the foreign ministers from the UK and Germany, noting that Israel had a right to self-defense. In talks, Netanyahu confirmed that Israel would respond to the Iranian attacks but in a “thoughtful and calculated manner.” This approach, he noted, would also indirectly curb Iran’s capacity to inflict harm on Israel.