Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that a combination of decisive and sagacious actions effectively allowed Jerusalem to achieve all of its goals, to prevent the situation from deteriorating into a multi-front conflict.
In remarks at the final weekly cabinet meeting ahead of the country’s September 17th parliamentary elections, the Premier mentioned his directives to Israel’s armed forces, the foremost of which is the ‘thwarting Iran’s vigorous efforts to annihilate the Jewish State.’
Netanyahu told his ministers that the nation “endured several tense days on many fronts.” After stressing “We could have started the week completely differently,” he attributed “a combination of decisiveness and sagacity” achieved all of Israel’s objectives. He said he prioritized “three main goals for Israel’s military and security branches, which were “to stop and prevent the Iranian nuclear project,” “prevent Iran from supplying our enemies and its proxies, such as Hezbollah and others, with precision weapons that endanger us,” and “to prevent Iran and its proxies from entrenching on our borders.” While taking action “vis-à-vis all of these goals, in part openly and a considerable part covertly,” the Prime Minister reiterated that his government remains “determined to maintain the security of Israel.”
Netanyahu also used the opportunity to praise the Foreign Ministers of the Arab countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, neither of which hold open diplomatic relations with the Jewish State, for having condemned Lebanon for allowing Hezbollah to operate from its territory against Israel. After welcoming the Bahraini and UAE statements “against Hezbollah’s aggression,” Netanyahu asserted that “They condemned the helplessness of Lebanon, which allows the Hezbollah terrorist organization to operate from its territory against Israel.” Saying, “This sounds like the Messianic times,” Netanyahu went on to say that “it shows the fundamental change taking place in the Middle East.”
The Israeli leader stressed, “The Arab world also understands that the Iranian aggression endangers not only Israel, but the entire region as well,” and called on additional countries to “come out against the aggression of Iran and its proxies.”
Netanyahu then revealed ongoing efforts to convene another summit between Israeli, U.S. and Russian security officials in Jerusalem, aimed at removing the Islamic Republic of Iran from Syria. He added that representatives at the trilateral forum would also “continue to take all diplomatic, security, intelligence and professional steps to achieve the goals we have set.”
Senior Israeli officials speaking to TV7 on condition of anonymity said Netanyahu is hoping to host the gathering prior to the upcoming elections, with one claiming “the move is marked with a political stain, rather than professional considerations.” While stressing the importance of ongoing dialogue with the two world powers on Iran’s persistent efforts to entrench itself militarily in Syria, he added that “the timing for such a meeting must be taken into serious consideration.”
A Russian source was cited by Israel’s public Kan radio station, emphasizing that while Moscow is willing to participate in the proposed summit, it would do so only after implementation of understandings reached at the first such meeting this past June.