Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Newsmax)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he has directed Israel’s military and intelligence agencies to work toward toppling Iran’s government and called regime change the only way to permanently end the threat he says Tehran poses.
“There is only one way to remove this threat once and for all: Overthrow the regime in Iran. And that is my directive to the IDF, the Mossad, and the security branches,” Netanyahu said during a graduation ceremony for military officers at the Bahad 1 training base in southern Israel.
He accused Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, of following his late father in trying again to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently denied seeking nuclear arms.
“As long as they are here, as long as they strive to acquire horrific weapons, the State of Israel faces an existential threat,” Netanyahu said.
“And our duty, the duty of all of us, is to save the nation,” he added.
The remarks represented Netanyahu’s most explicit public directive to Israeli security agencies to pursue regime change, although he had previously said Israel would help bring down Iran’s government. In June, he said the Iranian government’s days were numbered and that Israel would assist in its collapse.
Netanyahu also portrayed President Donald Trump as supporting coordinated action against Iran.
He said Trump had declared that the United States was “ready to finish the job” and would do so only with Israel’s help.
Trump warned over the weekend that the U.S. would “finish the job” against Iran unless its leaders change course.
The New York Times has also reported that the U.S. and Israel are drawing up plans for a large-scale attack on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections.
Netanyahu cast the effort as part of a wider campaign against Iran and its allied militant groups.
“We will eliminate the head of the octopus, and we will also finally sever its arms, the remainder of its arms, we will eliminate Hamas and eliminate Hezbollah,” he said.
He said many people across the region want Israel to prevail.
“In Lebanon, in Gaza, and certainly in Iran. In Iran, they hope for Israel’s victory,” Netanyahu said.
He told the new officers that bringing down Iran’s government is “now also your mission” and urged them “to eliminate the Axis of Evil once and for all.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz, who also addressed the graduates, issued a direct warning to Tehran.
“If Iran attacks Israel, Iran will burn!” Katz said.
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