When Israel is about to vote ahead of its parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced his commitment to “bringing down the terrorist regime in Iran” in a statement released by the office.
A regime change has been discussed with US President Donald Trump more than once, but his response to it has not been confirmed, Israeli PM said.
On Sunday, Trump’s election endorsement message for Netanyahu posted on Truth Social praised him for confronting Iran and warned that if another leader is chosen, America “will have to do this work ourselves.”
The post called Netanyahu a “Great Warrior Prime Minister,” and Trump also threatened to finish the job against Iran unless Tehran changes course.
“Netanyahu seeks to topple the regime, and Trump seeks to reach a good agreement with the same regime that Israeli PM seeks to topple,” Danny Citrinowicz, Middle East, National Security and intelligence expert, said.
Citrinowicz added that this might affect military operations and other agreements between the powers as the gap is not new.
Trump rejected a Netanyahu proposal for a joint public call urging Iranians onto the streets, and that US officials saw regime change as more of a bonus, Axios reports.
During a speech at Kiryat Shmona-Tel Hai University on Tuesday, Netanyahu praised the pushback by the IDF against Hezbollah, adding he is “committed to finishing the job”.
“It (Iranian regime) is the head of this poisonous octopus. You cut it off, and it will fall. We will also have peace with Lebanon,” Netanyahu said.
He described the regime as “fanatical” on his belief that they will continue with their nuclear programmes to build its axis.
Israeli PM argued that even if the regime is “battered, wounded and beaten,” it would try again to build nuclear weapons and rebuild its regional network.
“Netanyahu met with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday to discuss “threats in the region” at the Uvda air force base in Israel,” Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister, told Reuters.
Iran was discussed in the meeting as tensions flare between the US and Iran, he added.
“There’s a deep personal relationship here that was at the core of this discussion,” Spielman said.
Hegseth’s trip to Israel was unannounced, and the base hosts US fighter jets with refuelling aircraft, and the meeting came one day after Trump’s endorsement.
An analyst quoted by Iran International read the endorsement as a way for Washington to gain leverage over Netanyahu if he stays in power.
Israel is going to vote in its general election on October 27.
