Israel and the United States are reshaping the strategic balance of the Middle East through a joint military campaign aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities and weakening its network of proxy militias, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday night.
Addressing the nation, Netanyahu described the moment as historic, saying Israel’s actions in “Operation Roaring Lion” were already transforming the region.
“We are in historic days, days that will be recorded in the annals of Israel. In ‘Operation Roaring Lion,’ our roar is growing stronger,” he declared. “We are crushing the terrorist regime in Iran. We are striking and crushing its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
He continued, “Through an unprecedented partnership between Israel and the US, we have achieved enormous accomplishments that are changing the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond. These achievements are establishing Israel’s status as a power that is stronger than ever. This dramatic shift in our power relative to the power of our enemies is the key to ensuring our existence.
“Threats come and go—but when we become a regional power, and in certain fields a global power, we have the strength to push dangers away from us and secure our future.”
Netanyahu noted that he had warned about the Iranian threat more than three decades ago, as a Likud Knesset member, referencing a column he penned for the Hebrew daily, Yediot Achronot, titled “The greatest danger.”
“In 1993, I published a newspaper article and I wrote: ‘The greatest danger to Israel’s existence is not found in the Arab states; it is found in Iran.’ Since then, for over 30 years, the murderous regime of the ayatollahs has indeed acted to harm the US and the West, but first and foremost, it acted to advance its plan for the destruction of Israel.”
According to the prime minister, Iran pursued this goal on three fronts.
“It did so on three levels: First, it built an ‘Axis of Evil’ with terrorist armies of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, the Assad regime and others. The second level, it worked to establish an array of tens of thousands of lethal ballistic missiles. And the third level, it worked to develop nuclear bombs with the declared goal of wiping us off the face of the earth. Well, it will not do so.”
Netanyahu said Israel conducted years of overt and covert operations to delay Iran’s progress while building its own capabilities.
“As prime minister of Israel, I led many overt and covert operations that delayed Iran and diminished its capabilities. But at the same time, we built our own military, technological and diplomatic capabilities, to strike Iran forcefully and push the threats away from us. All these efforts converged into the War of Redemption, ‘Operation Rising Lion’ and ‘Operation Roaring Lion.’”
He said the military campaign had already weakened Iran’s regional proxy network.
“In the War of Redemption, we severely damaged the ‘Axis of Evil.’ It is still there, but with greatly reduced capabilities. We are committed to completing the task: Bringing security to all citizens of Israel and particularly to the residents of the north, as we are doing—and will continue to do—for the residents of the south. Hezbollah is feeling the weight of our arm, and it will feel it even more intensely. It will pay a very heavy price for its aggression.”
Netanyahu detailed Israeli strikes on Iran’s missile and nuclear infrastructure.
“In ‘Operation Rising Lion,’ we also broke ground for the first time for a comprehensive strike—both on Iran’s vast missile stockpile and on the production plants for additional missiles. We did the same regarding the nuclear project—including a mortal blow to senior Iranian scientists. They were the ones who led the development of the nuclear bombs intended to destroy us. They are no longer. And by the way, we hit a few more just now.”
The prime minister said that after “Operation Rising Lion” last June, he and US President Donald Trump had warned Iran’s supreme leader. “After ‘Operation Rising Lion,’ President Trump and I warned the tyrant Khamenei. We told him: If you try to rebuild your industries of death—we will strike you with a force you have never known.”
Instead, Netanyahu said, Tehran accelerated efforts to rebuild its nuclear and missile programs underground, prompting the current campaign.
“Therefore, we set out together on a campaign—the US and Israel—to continue what we did in ‘Rising Lion’: To prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and to prevent Iran from developing ballistic missiles that would threaten Israel, the US and the entire world. This is our goal.”
Netanyahu noted that Israel had successfully struck the leadership of the Iranian regime. “Within a short time, we eliminated the enemy Khamenei and many senior officials in the terrorist regime. We eliminated the old tyrant—and the new tyrant, Mojtaba, the puppet of the Revolutionary Guards, cannot show his face in public.”
The campaign, he added, is also intended to create conditions that would allow the Iranian people to remove the regime. “And simultaneously, we are acting to promote another goal: To create the conditions for the Iranian people so they can remove the cruel regime of tyranny that has ruled them for nearly half a century.”
Turning directly to the Iranian public, Netanyahu said: “I say to the Iranian people: The moment when you can embark on a new path of freedom—that moment is approaching. We stand by you; we are helping you. But at the end of the day, it depends on you! It is in your hands!”
Netanyahu also highlighted what he described as an unprecedented alliance with Washington. “We have created an alliance like no other with the US—an alliance with our great friend, my personal friend, President Trump. We speak almost every day.”
He said Trump had told him their relationship was historically strong. “A short while ago, he told me this: ‘The relationship between us is a hundred times stronger than any relationship that has ever existed between an American president and a prime minister in Israel.’”
Netanyahu concluded by praising the resilience of Israeli citizens amid the conflict. “How did President Trump ask me in amazement? ‘Only in Israel are the rescue flights—reversed. In the whole world, people want to flee from combat zones—and only with you, in Israel, everyone wants to return.’
“‘Where does this spirit come from?’—he always asks me. And I answer him: ‘This is the secret of our success. This is the resilience of our people. This is the power of our faith—the faith in the eternity of Israel.’”
