Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a delegation of generals and admirals from the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) on Thursday.
The prime minister briefed the members of the delegation on the challenges facing Israel on all fronts and emphasized the determination of IDF fighters and Israel's commitment to returning all of the hostages. He also stressed that Israel's war against Iran is a war for the entire free world.
Netanyahu told the members of the delegation that Iran is trying to conquer the Middle East through its proxies.
"Iran is fighting us on a seven-front war: obviously, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, the militias in Iraq and Syria, Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, and Iran itself," Netanyahu said. "They'd like to topple Jordan. Their goal is to have a combined ground offensive from various fronts, coupled with a combined missile bombardment."
The prime minister said that the war against Hamas in Gaza is a critical part of that larger conflict.
"The first requirement is to cut that hand – Hamas," he stated. "People who do this thing to us are not going to be there. We have a long battle. I don't think it's that long, but we'll get rid of them."
Netanyahu said that the fight against Iran's proxies is important for other Middle Eastern countries.
"We also have to deter the other elements of the Iran terror axis. But we have to deal with the axis," Netanyahu explained. "The axis doesn't threaten only us. It threatens you. It's on the march to conquer the Middle East."
He told the delegation that Iran also wants to conquer the rest of the Middle East, including Sunni Muslim countries.
"That means, actually, conquer. Conquer Saudi Arabia, conquer the Arabian Peninsula. It's just a question of time," he warned.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch, the Prime Minister's Military Secretary, Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman and his Foreign Policy Adviser, Dr. Ophir Falk also participated in the meeting with the JINSA delegation.
While the prime minister did not directly address the issue of war in Lebanon, the IDF is believed to be finishing up major operations in the Gaza Strip in order to focus its attention on the increasingly hostile northern front.
Several countries, including Canada, Germany, and Kuwait have already warned their citizens to leave Lebanon over fears of a Third Lebanon War. The U.S. advised against travel to the country and advised any citizens in Lebanon to avoid the southern part of the country.
"Reconsider travel to Lebanon due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded land mines, and armed conflict," a U.S. State Department travel advisory said.
Republished with permission from All Israel News.