Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“Citizens of Israel, I want to thank you, our wonderful nation. While you demonstrated resilience sitting in the secure rooms and shelters, together we achieved immense accomplishments: Our fighters at the front and you on the home front. But before all else, I wish to bow my head in memory of our loved ones who fell in this campaign. I wish to embrace the bereaved families and, on behalf of all of you, send wishes for a speedy recovery to our wounded loved ones.
My brothers and sisters, the State of Israel has achieved immense accomplishments, achievements that until recently seemed completely imaginary. Iran is weaker than ever, and Israel is stronger than ever. This is the bottom line of this campaign, up to this moment. And I wish to clarify: We still have goals to complete, and we will achieve them either by agreement or by the resumption of fighting. We are prepared to return to combat at any necessary moment. Our finger is on the trigger.
As you know, a two-week temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran went into effect tonight, in full coordination with Israel. Now, I want to emphasize, this is not the end of the campaign. This is a way station on the way to achieving all of our goals. Iran enters negotiations battered and weaker than ever. It has committed to opening the Strait of Hormuz after waiving all of its preconditions. It waived the cancellation of sanctions, receiving reparations, a final end to the war, and also a ceasefire in Lebanon.
While Iran is weaker than ever, Israel is as strong as it has ever been. Six weeks ago, for the first time in history, we went to war shoulder-to-shoulder with my friend President
and our great ally, the United States. We set out on a historic operation, the largest operation the Middle East has ever known. Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of Israel. A partnership like this between Israel and the US against our greatest enemy has also never existed in Israel’s history. And yes, I can reassure those worried about the relationship between myself and President Trump. As he said: ‘You are great.’ We speak every day, and we smile when we hear these assessments. Anyone who chooses to ignore the power of this partnership is simply ignoring the truth. As US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said today, the appreciation for Israel as an ally on the battlefield, appreciation for our heroism, courage and skill, this appreciation is soaring. President
, Donald my friend, I want to thank you for your leadership and your friendship. The deep friendship between us, the deep friendship between the US and Israel, is changing the face of the Middle East. We went out together to remove an existential threat from over the State of Israel and the entire free world, and we are carrying out that mission. We are carrying it out it step by step, goal after goal. If we hadn’t set out on Operation Rising Lion, and then if we hadn’t set out on Operation Roaring Lion, Iran would have long ago had nuclear weapons, and Iran would have had many thousands of missiles to destroy Israel and threaten the existence of us all. We have removed this double existential threat from over our heads. We have set the terrorist regime in Iran back many years. We have shaken its foundations. We have crushed it.
canisgallicus 