Netanyahu says toppling Iran’s regime is necessary to prevent its nuclear and proxy networks from rebuilding

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a wide-ranging Channel 14 interview that removing Iran’s current regime is necessary to prevent Tehran from rebuilding its nuclear program and restoring Hezbollah and Hamas.

“As long as it remains standing, it will try to recover,” Netanyahu said, describing the Iranian government as “fanatical.” He said Iran would try to renew its nuclear program and rebuild Hezbollah and Hamas, adding that “to destroy this entire apparatus, we need to overthrow this regime.”

Netanyahu also said Israel had become “the strongest power in the Middle East” and one of the strongest in the world. He claimed that nearly every Middle Eastern country, and almost every Western country, seeks Israeli assistance, including requests for defense systems such as Arrow.

On the West Bank, Netanyahu called the expansion of settlements a “miracle” and said a Palestinian state would not be established while he remained in power. When a Channel 14 panelist jokingly suggested establishing a Palestinian state in Uganda, Netanyahu replied that the proposal would receive “serious consideration.”

He also said the opposition would establish a Palestinian state, withdraw from Lebanon and Gaza and fail to act against Iran if it won the October 27 election. Netanyahu separately confirmed that former Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel visited Israel shortly before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, but denied meeting him or receiving a warning.

Netanyahu also sharply criticized Britain, saying it had undergone “Islamization” and claiming that about 3,000 people had been arrested and prosecuted over social media posts. That figure appears to refer to arrests connected to support for the banned Palestine Action group, though his broader characterization of the arrests was political rhetoric rather than an established factual description.