Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife Sara, delivered a fiery speech at a Newsmax conference in Jerusalem’s Waldorf Astoria hotel on Wednesday, marking the U.S.'s Independence Day.
He sharply criticized former Israeli security officials, claiming the concept of “victory” is absent from their vocabulary and recounted the brutal massacre against the Druze minority in southern Syria to underscore Israel’s regional challenges.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Syria
(Video: Newsmax)
Opening his remarks in English, Netanyahu thanked the event’s host and Newsmax for their role in countering misinformation. “There’s one way to defeat lies and that’s the truth. Thank you for standing for the truth,” he said. “You’ve helped in the war on the seventh front against Iran and the eighth—the war for truth. You’ve led the truth globally against persistent lies.”
Praising his wife, he added, “There’s a verse that the people of Israel must rise like lions. We have lionesses on the battlefield and I have one at home.” Switching to Hebrew, Netanyahu highlighted Israel’s military successes, saying, “We’ve achieved great victories against Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranian regime and [Bashar] Assad’s forces.
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“We do this because we work together—IDF, Shin Bet and Mossad—each in their field, with combined forces. They’ve done exceptional work under the lawmakers’ guidance. The government decides, the security forces execute and everyone deserves credit.”
Netanyahu targeted retired security officials as well. “I served with some of them; they were usually younger than me,” he said. “Over my 18 years as prime minister, I have great appreciation for their contributions, their bravery in battle and their sacrifices.” However, he claimed a shift occurs after they leave service.
“Systemically, gradually, one word has been erased from the IDF’s lexicon: victory,” he said. “We’re bringing that word back because without it, our existence here has no meaning. Either we win, or we don’t. I won’t give up on the victory of the Jewish people or our soldiers, with or without them.”
His remarks reflect a broader critique of retired officials who, he argued, have lost sight of decisive military objectives, contrasting their approach with his government’s resolve to achieve clear victories against Israel’s enemies.
Netanyahu addressed last month’s violence in Syria’s Sweida, where Israel intervened militarily to support the Druze community against Bedouin tribesmen and forces loyal to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
“A few weeks ago, we stopped the savage massacre of the Druze,” he said. “These people who hate them hate us and hate America and they chant the same thing, ‘Death to America, death to Israel, death to the Jews, death to the heathen.’ And the Druze happen to be the heathen, a small minority.”
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Syrian regime loyalists seen executing Druze hospital volunteer in Sweida
(Photo: Social Media/via REUTERS)
Describing the atrocities, he said, “They went into their town of Sweida and they butchered the men. They raped the women, the nurses and then shot them. They burned babies and they added a few things... You see a Druze civilian wounded lying on the ground and one of these fanatics, unbelievable savages, they go in, knife the guy, tear out his heart and then eat it. And it takes a few seconds for death to come.”
The vivid account aimed to underscore the brutality Israel confronts, positioning its military actions as a defense of shared values against extremist threats. Earlier, at a Likud faction meeting in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu welcomed back Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to his Likud party.
He warned against a “left-wing government” that he claimed seeks to pave the way for a Palestinian state. Equating the Palestinian Authority (PA) with Hamas, he said, “They’ve learned nothing. Worse, I hear friends in Rome saying the only difference between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas is their method.
“Hamas uses terror and military raids, while the PA uses the International Criminal Court and the UN Security Council to destroy Israel.”