The Islamic Republic will face “unimaginable” consequences if it attacks Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Thursday.
“We are prepared for any scenario,” Netanyahu said at an Israel Defense Forces cadets graduation ceremony at the Bahad 1 officers training school in southern Israel. “And if the ayatollahs make the mistake of attacking us, they will experience a response they cannot even imagine.”
Addressing the newly commissioned officers in Hebrew, the prime minister said Israel is “operating side by side with our major ally, the United States,” adding that during his meeting in Washington on Feb. 11 with President Donald Trump, he presented “Israel’s position on the guiding principles for any talks with Iran.”
Regional tensions have intensified in recent days as the United States deployed major naval and air assets to the area in its largest such buildup since 2003. Although Washington and Tehran held two rounds of nuclear talks in recent weeks, Trump indicated on Thursday that he expects to decide within 10 to 15 days on striking a deal with Iran or taking military action.
“We have to make a meaningful deal,” the president said. “Otherwise, bad things happen.”
Disarming Hamas
As Trump addressed the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington, Netanyahu stressed that Israel would not allow the reconstruction of Gaza before Hamas is disarmed, saying, “There will be no rehabilitation of the Strip before its demilitarization.
“Hamas will be dismantled and Gaza demilitarized,” he stated. “Soon Hamas will face a choice: disarm the easy way or the hard way—but it will be disarmed.”
He said that Israeli forces are tightening their hold around the Strip and that the war launched after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks fundamentally reshaped Israel’s strategic posture.
‘No more containment’
Netanyahu outlined what he described as a shift in Israel’s long-standing security doctrine—moving away from deterrence and containment toward sustained preemptive action.
“There is no more containment, no more ‘campaign between wars,’ and no more ‘villa in the jungle’ concept,” he said. “If you do not go into the jungle, the jungle comes to you. Therefore, we will act repeatedly to neutralize threats.”
He said buffer zones along Israel’s borders would become a permanent necessity to prevent future ground invasions, noting that Israeli forces remain deployed in security areas in Lebanon and Syria.
According to Netanyahu, Israel already expanded operations far beyond its borders during the war, striking adversaries across multiple fronts and weakening “the Iranian axis of evil.”
“We removed the strangulation ring the Iranian axis tried to place around our neck,” he said.
“In the War of Redemption, we have refined this principle tenfold,” he said. “We went far beyond the borders of the state, to the enemy capitals—almost all of them. We operated in an unprecedented radius—at an extreme range—to fend off existential threats, as I promised on the first day of the war. We changed the face of the Middle East. And I tell you, no less important than that, we changed ourselves.
“Today, Israel is a stronger country than ever. Whoever boasted that Israel is as weak as a spider’s web received the appropriate answer. Our iron fist struck hard at every aggressor.”
He noted that extremist forces in the region are rebuilding despite Israeli military achievements, placing the Middle East at a critical crossroads. “The extremist elements refuse to give up,” he said. “They are reorganizing to challenge us anew.”
Netanyahu said that while Israel continues to work closely with Washington, it is moving toward defense independence. “In the coming decade, we will end reliance on American financial support for our defense budget and move from dependence to partnership,” he said.
People’s Army
The prime minister framed the ceremony as evidence of Israeli unity, highlighting the diversity of the new officers—Jews and non-Jews, secular and religious, men and women.
“As I passed among you, I felt the wondrous spirit that resonates within the People’s Army. Because that is exactly what we have here: the People’s Army,” he told the graduates. “The IDF, all of its soldiers and commanders, come from among the people—and the people place their trust in the IDF. They place their trust in you.”
He added, “Many generations dreamed of this sublime moment, in which proud commanders would lead the defensive force of independent Israel. From a displaced and beaten people, we have become a people rooted in its homeland, proud of its strength, ensuring its future. And you are proudly representing this independence of the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu said the war had tested Israeli society much like the officers’ training had tested their leadership, saying the country had moved from the shock of the Oct. 7 massacre to sustained military action across the region.
During the war, he said, he had met some of the graduates while they were still enlisted soldiers in Gaza and was impressed by their determination and courage.
“You charged into terrorist strongholds, destroyed enemy infrastructure and eliminated many terrorists,” he said.
Addressing bereaved families and wounded soldiers, Netanyahu called rehabilitation “another battlefield” and pledged continued national support. He noted that four officers from the graduating class—Omri, Eran, Ron and Eitan—had been killed in action, saying their sacrifice formed part of a continuous chain of Jewish history and defense.
“Take care of yourselves, take care of one another and guard the eternity of Israel,” he concluded.
‘Don’t test us!’
In his address to the cadets, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would confront every threat it faced.
“We beheaded the leadership of the Houthi terror organization in Yemen that attacked Israel, and removed the threats of annihilation over the State of Israel in ‘Operation Rising Lion’ in Iran,” Katz said, referring to the 12-day war last June. “We will not allow threats of annihilation against the State of Israel in the future and we will act against every threat, near and far.”
He added, “I say from here to all our enemies: Do not test us and do not challenge our determination, because you will find a united people and a strong and victorious army facing you.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir echoed this message, emphasizing the military’s readiness across all arenas and the responsibility of the new officers to lead in a prolonged, multi-front campaign.
He said the army would continue operating proactively to remove emerging threats and ensure Israel’s security, stressing that the next generation of commanders must combine operational initiative with moral clarity in defending the country.
“Anyone who seeks to test our determination will encounter power that will exact an immediate and heavy price,” Zamir warned.
