Israel Not Finished With Iran, Netanyahu Says After ‘Historic’ US Airstrikes

TEL AVIV—Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that Israel was "very, very close" to completing its war goals in Iran, but vowed the military campaign will not end until Iran’s nuclear and missile programs are fully dismantled.

"We are progressing toward the goal of removing both threats together," Netanyahu said in pre-recorded press conference that aired in the evening. "We will not be dragged into a war of attrition. "But we also will not end this action—this historic operation—before we achieve all our objectives."

Netanyahu praised unprecedented U.S. airstrikes on Iran's nuclear program the previous night, saying they did "very serious damage" to Iran’s heavily fortified Fordow uranium enrichment facility. He said the full extent of the damage was still being assessed but the B-2 bomber run, ordered by President Donald Trump, significantly advanced Israel's campaign against Iran, known as Operation Rising Lion, which began with a surprise assault on June 13.

U.S. officials gave similar assessments. Trump said in a post to his Truth Social platform on Monday that the U.S. strikes did "monumental damage" to Iran's nuclear facilities, adding, "Obliteration is an accurate term!" Vice president J.D. Vance said in a pair of TV news interviews on Sunday that Iran’s nuclear program has been "set back by years."

Meanwhile, Israel continued to carry out airstrikes in Iran, pounding dozens of missile, drone, and air defense targets and destroying five F-15 fighter jets, according to military officials. Semiofficial Iranian news media reported on Sunday that three members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in the western Zanjan province and that explosions were heard in Bushehr, near Iran’s only nuclear power plant.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Washington Free Beacon, "A lot has been accomplished—more than expected. Operation Rising Lion will continue until the objectives are reached."

Iran showed no sign of backing down. The regime launched three separate missile barrages at Israeli cities in the days following the U.S. attack, with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying from his bunker hideout on Monday, "The Zionist enemy … is being punished right now." Amir Hatami, the new head of Iran’s military, warned on Sunday of a "decisive response" against the United States.

Several current and former officials told the Free Beacon that Israel's campaign would continue for at least one to three more weeks, with an immediate focus on Iran's missile infrastructure.

In a confidential briefing before Tal's committee on Sunday morning, lawmakers learned that Israeli strikes has destroyed several hundred Iranian ballistic missiles on the ground while the regime has fired more than 450 at Israel during the campaign—drawing down an arsenal that initially numbered about 2,500, according to two sources familiar. Israel has also eliminated about 200 of Iran’s 500 surface-to-surface missile launchers and all three of its missile-defense systems in western Iran, giving the air force near-total air superiority in and around Tehran, though not yet to the same degree in the rest of the country.

"We still have 300 launchers for ballistic missiles that are threatening Israel," said Ohad Tal, a member of the Israeli Knesset's powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee from the Religious Zionism party. "And we’ve seen what even one missile can do to Israeli cities."

Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu, told the Free Beacon that the campaign must also address 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity, close the level used for nuclear weapons, that Iran was believed to still hold.

"That might be a basis for a future bomb," he said. "They lost many capabilities that they have to have—how to transfer this enriched uranium to a bomb—but they have the enriched uranium."

According to Tal, Israel knows that uranium stockpile "still exists" and "where it is." He declined to elaborate. Netanyahu said in his press conference on Sunday that Israel has "interesting intel" on the location of the stockpile.

Amir Avivi, a former senior Israeli military officer who has advised the Netanyahu government during 20 months of war with Iran and its terrorist affiliates, told the Free Beacon Israel has a "one-shot opportunity" to destroy the regime's offensive capabilities. He noted that Israel's dominance of Iranian airspace and success in intercepting retaliatory strikes with U.S. help has made Israeli decision-makers more ambitious.

"The more we do, the more appetite we have," Avivi said.

Israel did not expect Iran to agree to a deal on terms acceptable to the United States or Israel, the current and former officials said. Tzachi Hanegbi, Netanyahu's national security adviser, said in Sunday's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee briefing that Trump recently asked Netanyahu whether he would support a "good agreement" with Iran. According to Hanegbi, Netanyahu replied that while a deal would be "best," it will not happen "because the Iranians will not agree to give up any nuclear ambitions."

Amit Segal, a well-sourced Israeli journalist, reported on Sunday that the Israeli government believed the Iranian regime was on an "irreversible suicidal trajectory."

Another possible outcome of the campaign against Iran was regime change. Hanegbi said during his briefing on Sunday that Israel has not made Khamenei a target for assassination "right now," but added, "right now means in the next 60 seconds."

Yossi Kuperwasser, a former senior officer in Israel's military intelligence and Strategic Affairs Ministry, said Israel has so far sought to weaken the regime without fully committing to toppling it.

"We are not asking for the regime to fall," said Kuperwasser. "But we are creating the conditions that might be conducive to it. Weaken the regime, and let the people decide."

The current and former Israeli officials said the most likely conclusion to the war may be that Israel would simply stop the strikes after achieving its goals. Henceforth, Israel would enforce its new security doctrine, which Kuperwasser described as zero-tolerance for the development of "threats intended to destroy the State of Israel."

"We finishing striking all all the targets. We know that Iran doesn't have a nuclear program or a missile program, and we go home," he said, describing the scenario. "We tell the Iranians, 'OK, we're done, and don't even think about resuming these programs or else we are going to come back."

Asked about Israel's endgame during his Sunday press conference, Netanyahu declined to comment.

"I can imagine several options," he said. "But I don’t think it helps us achieve the full goals of the war to lay them out here."

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