Netanyahu says Israel ready to ‘return to battle at any moment’ against Iran

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel remains prepared to confront Iran if necessary, despite a truce reached between the United States and Iran.

“Let me be clear: We still have objectives to complete, and we will achieve them – either through agreement or through renewed fighting,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

“We are prepared to return to combat at any moment required. Our finger remains on the trigger. This is not the end of the campaign, but a step along the way to achieving all our objectives.”

“Iran enters this pause battered, weaker than ever.”

Netanyahu also hit back at opposition leaders who chastised him for agreeing to the truce before Israel achieved its objectives in the war.

“As you know, last night a temporary two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran came into effect, in full coordination with Israel,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

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“No, we were not surprised at the last moment,” he said.

Israel’s main opposition figure Yair Lapid called the truce a “diplomatic disaster” for Israel, saying Netanyahu had failed to achieve the country’s goals.

Netanyahu had set the elimination or at least severe degradation of Iran’s nuclear programme as a central goal of the war, describing it as an “existential threat” to Israel.

He had also called to degrade Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, weaken or potentially topple the Iranian regime and curb Tehran’s regional influence by targeting its network of allied groups.

In his televised statement, Netanyahu spoke about the war’s achievements.

“We destroyed not only existing missiles, but also the factories that produce them. Iran is now firing what remains in its stockpile and that stockpile is steadily dwindling,” he said.

“We have severely damaged Iran’s nuclear programme, destroying critical infrastructure and centrifuge facilities,” he said, adding that Israel would ensure that the enriched uranium is removed from Iran.

“We have crippled the financial and weapons production networks of the Revolutionary Guards,” he said, adding that the campaign had also hit Iran’s steel plants, petrochemical complexes and transport infrastructure.

“We have dealt a severe blow to the regime’s apparatus of repression. We have eliminated thousands of its operatives and demonstrated that we can reach them anywhere,” the premier said.

Netanyahu also hailed Israel’s cooperation with the United States in the war.

“Together, we launched a historic operation – the largest the Middle East has ever seen,” he said.

“Such a partnership between Israel and the United States against our greatest enemy is also unprecedented.”