As he prepares to leave the office of Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly planning a major military attack on Iran, with two clear signals emerging from recent developments. According to Israeli media channel-12, Netanyahu recently asked Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to launch a strike on Tehran. However, Zamir has outright refused this directive, maintaining the firm stance that entering into a war at the present moment is entirely inappropriate.
On the other hand, while speaking in the Knesset on Tuesday, November 11, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that Israel will never be secure until a regime change takes place in Iran. Netanyahu made a direct public appeal for the overthrow of the Ayatollah government, emphasizing that the current leadership poses an existential threat.
Netanyahu persistent push for military action against Iran
Earlier this year in February, Israel, in coordination with the United States, had launched an attack on Iran. By April, a ceasefire was officially announced among the involved parties. Despite this agreement, intermittent strikes by Israel against Iranian targets continued. For the past few months, a relative calm has persisted between the two adversaries, but new tensions are now brewing.
Reports highlight that Netanyahu had previously sought to attack Iran even before the Israeli elections, but the United States intervened and vetoed the plan. Now, despite suffering defeat in the elections, Netanyahu is relentlessly continuing his efforts to execute an attack on Iran.
According to Israel channel-12, Netanyahu has spoken to the army chief twice regarding this matter. The first report emerged on October 27, when it was revealed that Eyal Zamir had refused to carry out an attack on Iran. Now, the same narrative has resurfaced, underscoring a deepening friction between the political leadership and the military establishment.
Why does Benjamin Netanyahu want to attack Iran?
Addressing the Knesset on Tuesday, Netanyahu argued that although Israel has severely damaged Iran nuclear programs, Tehran is once again actively engaged in efforts to develop nuclear weapons. According to Netanyahu, as long as the regime of the Ayatollahs remains in power in Iran, Israel can never truly be safe or secure.
Netanyahu stressed that launching an attack on Iran is absolutely essential to safeguard Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. He asserted that uprooting and overthrowing the Ayatollah regime is the only pathway to achieving permanent security for the nation.
Nevertheless, political analysts and experts suggest that by pushing for an attack on Iran, Netanyahu is primarily attempting to consolidate his political standing and secure his legacy before stepping down from power, while it remains to be seen how Netanyahu will navigate the strong opposition from his own military chief against this proposed offensive.