Netanyahu: Iran truce a ‘way station’ to achieving war objectives

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday night that the ceasefire agreed to by the United States and Iran the previous day was coordinated with Jerusalem, describing it as a “way station” and warning that “Operation Roaring Lion” could resume “at any necessary moment.”

“The State of Israel has achieved immense accomplishments, achievements that until recently seemed completely imaginary,” the premier said in a prime time address to the nation following the conclusion of the Passover holiday in Israel. “Iran is weaker than ever, and Israel is stronger than ever. This is the bottom line of this campaign, up to this moment.”

The prime minister denied reports that Washington blindsided the Jewish state with the truce, saying the announcement was made “in full coordination with Israel.”

“Six weeks ago, for the first time in history, we went to war shoulder-to-shoulder with my friend, President [Donald] Trump and our great ally, the United States,” he said, adding: “A partnership like this between Israel and the U.S. against our greatest enemy has also never existed in Israel’s history.”

Netanyahu emphasized that the Islamic Republic was entering negotiations with the United States “battered and weaker than ever” after it waived all of its preconditions for the talks, including the cancellation of sanctions, receiving war reparations, a final end to hostilities and a parallel ceasefire with its Hezbollah terrorist proxy in Lebanon.

Lebanon was excluded from the temporary ceasefire at Jerusalem’s request, according to the premier.

However, “we still have goals to complete,” Netanyahu stressed in his speech, “and we will achieve them either by agreement or by the resumption of fighting.”

“Regarding the enriched material still remaining in Iran: as senior Trump administration officials said today, all the enriched material will leave Iran. Either it will leave by agreement, or it will leave by the resumption of fighting. We see eye-to-eye on this matter,” according to the Israeli leader.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces has “set the terrorist regime in Iran back many years” during the 40 days of war, he stated.

Netanyahu said the campaign had degraded Tehran’s weapons production, including ballistic missiles, and funding sources; “severely damaged” its nuclear program through strikes on infrastructure and the killing of scientists; destroyed military assets, including those of the Iranian Navy; weakened the regime’s “mechanism of oppression”; and eliminated senior officials, “from the tyrant [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei to the top brass of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij.”

“As a result of Israel’s determination and strength, strength and determination that everyone in the Middle East sees, we are creating new alliances with countries in the region,” he revealed.

“Anyone who tries to ignore these monumental achievements, monumental achievements of the State of Israel and IDF soldiers,” he declared, “either they do not know what they are talking about, or they are speaking out of foreign interests.”

“As I promised you at the beginning of the War of Redemption, we have dramatically changed the face of the Middle East in Israel’s favor, and we will continue to do so. Because we are the side that takes the initiative, we are the side that fights, and with God’s help, we are the side that wins,” concluded Netanyahu.

Trump said on Tuesday evening that he had agreed to a “double-sided ceasefire” with the regime in Tehran after talking to the Pakistani prime minister and field marshal, who “requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran.”

If the Iranian regime agrees to the “complete, immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump stated.