TEL AVIV (VINnews) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel has pushed back an Iranian threat of annihilation and that toppling Tehran’s regime is now “within reach,” speaking at a Rosh Hashanah toast with Israel’s military leadership.
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Netanyahu held the toast at the Kirya, Israel’s Defense Ministry compound in Tel Aviv, with Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and members of the IDF General Staff Forum.
Rosh Hashanah 5787 begins at sundown Sept. 11.
“What has been achieved over the three years of the War of Redemption, in the time that has passed since Operation Roaring Lion, and even earlier during Operation Rising Lion, these are historic achievements that ensure our continued existence,” Netanyahu said.
He said Israel had faced “the threat of annihilation by a regime that aspires to eradicate us and wants to arm itself with nuclear bombs to destroy us.”
“We have pushed back this threat and other threats as well,” he said. “This regime is currently faltering. It is weaker than ever before. It is fighting for its life.”
Netanyahu said he was confident in Israel’s ability “to remove this threat once and for all; meaning, to topple this regime.”
“This is the central mission still before us, but it is close. It is not impossible. It is within reach,” he said.
He credited Israel’s soldiers, pilots, navigators, home-front defenses and “our strong nation,” and said Iran now “attack[s] everyone, except us.”
“They know our power, the force of our arm, and our determination,” Netanyahu said. “I say to our enemies, do not mess with us. If you have learned anything, do not mess with us.”
He said Israel has “the power, the determination, and the internal unity to overcome you,” and wished the country a happy new year.
Operation Rising Lion was Israel’s June 2025 campaign against Iran. Operation Roaring Lion was the broader U.S.-Israeli campaign launched Feb. 28, 2026. Netanyahu has used “War of Redemption” to describe the conflict that began with Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack and later expanded across multiple fronts, including Iran.
How about removing Hamas from Gaza, which you have been promising for 3 years; when is THAT going to happen???? STOP talking about what you are going to do and JUST DO IT already!!
hamas and hezbollah were also defeated