Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not briefed about the ongoing US-Israeli military offensive on Iran during his visit to Israel, as the decision to launch the operation was taken only after he had concluded his trip, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Friday.
Speaking virtually at the Raisina Dialogue 2026 in New Delhi, Saar said the timing of the decision made it impossible to inform PM Modi in advance.
"But we couldn’t brief Prime Minister Modi on this on Thursday because the decision we took was only on Saturday early morning," Saar stated.
"That happened only after a failure of the negotiations between the US and Iran that took place on the same Thursday. So that’s why it was simply impossible to do during this visit," he added.
The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran took place just two days after PM Modi completed his two-day visit to Israel, during which he addressed the Knesset and held bilateral talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Saar also highlighted the growing ties between India and Israel, saying both countries were working to deepen cooperation across several sectors.
“We have great relations with Prime Minister Modi and with India and we were able to deepen our ties. We have now a great agenda for 2026 on how to strengthen relations with India, which is the largest democracy on earth and also the fastest economy in the world,” he said.
Earlier this week, Israel’s ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, also said the decision to launch the strikes was taken only after PM Modi’s departure from Tel Aviv.
“It was an operational opportunity that came up only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi left. During the conversations with him, we discussed regional developments, but we could not have shared something we did not yet know,” Azar had said in remarks reported by The Indian Express.
According to Azar, it took roughly two days after PM Modi’s departure for the plan to take shape, with Israel’s security cabinet granting final approval on February 28.
The military operation, Operation Epic Fury, involved coordinated strikes by the U.S. and Israel on multiple Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran. The operation followed stalled nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran and allegations that Iran had resumed elements of its nuclear programme.
Addressing the broader regional situation, Saar said the conflict had widened after the Iran-backed group Hezbollah joined the fighting.
“Hezbollah decided some three days ago to join this war against the will and the interest of the people of Lebanon and the country of Lebanon because clearly they had instructions from Tehran and they are serving Iranian interests and not Lebanese interests,” he said.
According to Saar, Hezbollah had been launching missiles and drones at Israeli population centres, particularly in northern Israel. “They are launching missiles and drones against our population centres, mainly in the northern part of our country and it is clear it is not going to be one-sided,” he said.
The Israeli minister also accused Tehran of escalating tensions across the region by targeting multiple countries.
“Iran is acting very stupidly, attacking not less than 10 countries — all the Gulf states, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, I think even Turkey. This is not sane because this regime is not sane,” he said.
When asked how long the conflict might last, Saar said neither Israel nor the United States had set a fixed timeframe for the military campaign.
“I’ve heard President Trump speaking lately. It might be more than that. I don’t think someone gave a time limit, not us and not the United States of America,” he said.
“We are determined to achieve the goals of this operation and we said that we are going in order to remove for the long run, existential threats from Iran,” he added.
Saar also suggested that political change in Iran could significantly reshape the Middle East.
“A change in Iran will change all the region because a lot of things have changed for the worse ever since the Islamic revolution took place at the end of the 70s,” he said.
However, he emphasised that any regime change would ultimately depend on the Iranian people.
“The regime change will take place and will happen by the people of Iran, the endgame will be written by the Iranian people,” Saar said.
PM Modi’s visit to Israel last week saw the two countries elevate their “time-tested” partnership to a special strategic relationship and agree to accelerate negotiations on a long-awaited free trade agreement.
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