Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel is prepared for any scenario involving Iran and warned that if Tehran attacks, it will face a response “they cannot even imagine,” as tensions mount over a possible confrontation.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for new IDF officers at the Bahad 1 training base in the Negev desert, Netanyahu referred to contacts between the United States and Iran and said he had conveyed Israel’s position to President Donald Trump.
“I made clear to my friend President Trump the principles that, in Israel’s view, should guide the negotiations with Iran,” Netanyahu said. “We are prepared for any scenario. If the ayatollahs attack, they will experience a response they cannot even imagine.”
Netanyahu said Israel had shifted its security doctrine from primarily defensive measures to “initiated offensives,” invoking Israel’s founding prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the principle of taking the fight onto enemy territory.
“At the start of the war, we experienced a horrific massacre carried out by the monsters in Gaza,” he said, referring to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. “We rose to our feet and fought back — and paid heavy prices.”
He said Israel had “removed the chokehold of the Iranian axis of evil,” operated “at an unprecedented radius” to eliminate what he described as existential threats and brought home “all of our hostages — every last one of them.”
“With all the tremendous achievements, it is important to remember the Middle East is at a crossroads,” Netanyahu said. “The extremists refuse to give up and are reorganizing to challenge us. We are prepared and vigilant to defend ourselves against any challenge, and we are acting in close coordination with our ally, the United States.”
Addressing the war in Gaza, Netanyahu said Israeli forces were operating throughout the territory and vowed Hamas would be disarmed. “Our forces are operating from all directions in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized. We agreed with the United States — there will be no reconstruction of the Strip before its demilitarization.” He said Hamas would soon face a choice “to disarm the easy way or the hard way,” and pledged that Gaza would no longer threaten Israel.
Netanyahu also praised the graduating officers, many of whom he said had fought in Gaza, describing the military as “a people’s army” made up of Jews and non-Jews, men and women, secular and ultra-Orthodox, from cities, villages and kibbutzim.
He expressed solidarity with bereaved families and wounded service members, including those coping with psychological trauma, and told the cadets they had learned both “why” and “how” to command — with professionalism, ingenuity and boldness.
The ceremony was attended by President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
Herzog highlighted the diversity of the graduating class, including ultra-Orthodox cadets, and called on more members of that community to enlist. He also honored officers killed in fighting in Gaza and praised wounded soldiers who returned to service.
Katz said Israel would continue to act against threats from Iran and its allies and declared that the military would maintain a permanent security presence in parts of Gaza.