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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe launched the largest attack operation in Israel\u2019s history,\u201d Netanyahu bragged, listing what he said were Israel\u2019s accomplishments.<\/p>\n \t \u201cWe targeted the nuclear scientists; we eliminated the leaders of the terror regime; we crushed the nuclear facilities; we destroyed missiles and the vast majority of the factories that produce missiles,\u201d he said. \u201cWe struck countless military industries and infrastructures. We destroyed their navy, their air force. We eliminated base commanders who massacred the Iranian people. We caused enormous damage \u2014 [some] estimate it in the hundreds of billions of dollars, some estimate it at even close to a trillion dollars \u2014 to Iran\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n His remarks echoed a previous speech<\/a> he gave just under a year ago in June 2025, following the conclusion of Israel\u2019s first, 12-day war with Iran.<\/p>\n At the time, the prime minister asserted that Israel had \u201csent Iran\u2019s nuclear program down the drain,\u201d and scored a \u201chistoric victory\u201d that would \u201cabide for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n Less than 12 months later, Netanyahu declared that Israel had once again \u201cremoved, for years to come, this danger hanging over us of the elimination of Israel\u2019s population.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what we did,\u201d the prime minister continued, \u201cwe saved the State of Israel from annihilation.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Asked by a reporter about his declared objective of removing the threat \u201cposed by Iran\u2019s regime\u201d \u2014 and why, three months later, the end of the campaign is being declared while that regime remains intact \u2014 Netanyahu rejected the premise that things went wrong and that a core goal of the campaign had gone unfilled.<\/p>\n \u201cIt did not go wrong at all. I defined the goals \u2014 and the cabinet defined the goals \u2014 differently from what you said,\u201d Netanyahu told the reporter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe said we wanted to remove an existential danger from over us: first, the nuclear danger \u2014 and we did that. We said we wanted to remove from over us the [ballistic missile] danger \u2014 and we did that. And we said<\/a> we wanted to create the conditions that would allow the Iranian people, should they wish, to remove from themselves this terror regime,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n \u201cIran is in a very difficult economic situation. We struck every possible infrastructure there. The damage is enormous. There are cracks within this regime as well,\u201d he added. \u201cCan I tell you when this regime will fall? I do not know. Could I have told you when the Soviet regime would fall? No. I cannot tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n Both the US and Israel had been somewhat vague when laying out war aims at the outset of the campaign, but Israel consistently stressed the threat from Iran\u2019s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, as well as from its proxy network, at times, adding the goal of \u201ccreating the conditions\u201d for regime change in Iran.<\/p>\n \t The prime minister on Sunday also pushed back against the idea that Israel had lost its autonomy in strategic decision-making, after it was forced to stop fighting, was shut out of talks with Tehran, and most recently was publicly lambasted by Trump for striking a Hezbollah target in Beirut on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the US, they say that President Trump does everything I ask, and in Israel, they say the opposite, that I do everything he asks,\u201d he said in response to a question. \u201cNeither is true.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a relationship of partners who know each other,\u201d Netanyahu insisted. \u201cMany times, we agree; sometimes we don\u2019t agree. That happens in the best families.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel \u201chas to take into account\u201d what the US says, Netanyahu argued, noting that Trump \u201cbrought the US military to fight with us against our common enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a big deal,\u201d he said. \u201cI respect it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust as it\u2019s impossible to say we are totally ignoring what is happening in the world, or geopolitical considerations, you can\u2019t say we are totally bound by these considerations,\u201d Netanyahu continued, \u201cbecause under my leadership, Israel has proven that it does major things and it leads many things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are initiating, we are operating, we are surprising, and we are also winning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \t Speaking about his relationship with Trump, Netanyahu said that \u201cmany times we see eye to eye, and there are also cases in which we see less eye to eye. I am responsible for Israel\u2019s security interests. I stand up for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Netanyahu declined during the press conference to say whether he would permit Israel to strike Iran alone or act independently against Hezbollah in Lebanon, but he said that\u00a0Israel \u201cwill do what is necessary\u201d to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, stressing that \u201cI am not limiting myself in any way regarding this goal.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said that Israeli troops will remain in the buffer zone in southern Lebanon \u201cfor as long as necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIran wanted us to withdraw from there. That did not happen. Do you know why it did not happen? Among other reasons, because I stood very, very firm. I was very, very resolute on this matter. And I think our American friends respect that resoluteness and that firm stance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \t Netanyahu also declined to criticize the agreement between the US and Iran, acknowledging that Israel does not yet know its details, but nevertheless insisting that he was \u201cnot limiting\u201d himself in acting to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or in preserving Israel\u2019s freedom of action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.<\/p>\n Pressed by a reporter about concerns over potential similarities between the US Obama administration\u2019s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reported details of the emerging US-Iran framework, Netanyahu said he would not compare the two, as \u201cwe do not know what the agreement was.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can say that the fundamental difference between the situation then and the situation today is that any agreement must be accompanied by a credible military threat,\u201d he said. \u201cBack then, there was no credible military threat. Today, because of what we did \u2014 not only the United States, but also because of us, because we entered there with 14,000 sorties \u2014 that is the biggest difference,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n According to Netanyahu, the 14,000 sorties were split \u201croughly half and half\u201d between the US and Israel.<\/p>\n The prime minister emphasized that Israel is not a signatory to the US-Iran deal, and distanced himself from Trump\u2019s decision to sign an agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cThis agreement was made by the United States, by the president of the United States. And he believes that he can truly combine both the opening of the [Strait of Hormuz] and the cancellation of the nuclear program\u2026 And I repeat and say that this is his decision, and he is leading it,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, I expressed my view in various conversations. On the other hand, I said that we have our own interests \u2013 first of all, regarding the nuclear threat. I am committed that there will not be such a threat facing us.\u201d<\/p>\n Opposition leaders denounce PM\u2019s disingenuous answers<\/p>\n Opposition figures sharply criticized Netanyahu following his press conference, assailing his claims that the recent war against Iran saved Israel from nuclear annihilation and that its main goals were achieved even though Tehran\u2019s regime was not replaced.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AFP__20260308__A2EB9KL__v2__HighRes__TopshotIranUsIsraelWar-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tVehicles move along a highway past a war memorial statue and a billboard depicting Iran\u2019s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with plumes of black smoke billowing, in Tehran on March 8, 2026. (AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AFP__20260505__A9UE2NR__v3__HighRes__IranUsIsraelWarDailylife-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIranians drive past a huge billboard carrying the image of the slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in February 2026 in a military attack by the US and Israel on Iran, in a street in Tehran on May 5, 2026. (AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/F260615OFPOOL06-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Prime Minister\u2019s Office in Jerusalem, June 15, 2026. (Olivier Fitoussi\/POOL)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP25363754580207-1-e1767042611650-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d8e1d470-9a47-4e45-80b1-83d1ed044ef8-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIDF troops operate near the Wadi Saluki stream in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo published June 11, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n
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