Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Sunday night that Israel was “very, very close” to realizing its objectives in the conflict with Iran, hours after President Trump launched an American attack on three Iranian nuclear sites.
In a televised address, Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel had begun bombing Iran on June 13 “to remove two concrete, existential threats: the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat.”
“We are advancing, step by step, to achieve these goals,” he said. “We are very, very close to completing them.”
Mr. Netanyahu did not say when he believed Israel would end its bombing campaign. Nor did he mention another goal that some observers have suggested Israel might be pursuing in Iran: regime change.
Israelis have broadly backed Mr. Netanyahu’s decision to open the offensive against Iran. Even longtime critics of the prime minister — including Yair Lapid, head of Israel’s parliamentary opposition — have praised what they see as the war’s tactical successes.
But as Iran launches missiles in response, the conflict has also paralyzed much of Israel, shuttering schools, businesses and the international airport near Tel Aviv, leaving thousands of Israelis stranded abroad. The economic damage has compounded the cost of more than 20 months of war in Gaza and Lebanon.
Some Israeli analysts and politicians have argued that now is the time to wind down the fighting.
In his address on Sunday night, Mr. Netanyahu said that he would not be dragged into a “war of attrition” with Iran. But Israel would not cease its assault on Iran before it had “accomplished all of its goals,” Mr. Netanyahu vowed, without providing a timetable.
“We will not continue to operate beyond what is necessary to achieve them,” he said. “But we also won’t finish up too soon. When the aims are achieved, the operation will be concluded, and the fighting will stop.”
Some analysts in Israel have suggested that if Mr. Netanyahu’s war against Iran is seen as successful, he could show greater flexibility in talks to end the war with Hamas in Gaza and to free the remaining hostages there. For months, Mr. Netanyahu has seemed unwilling to make concessions in the talks, which his far-right political allies have opposed.
On Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu said that the blows dealt to Iran — a longtime patron of Hamas — would also further weaken the Palestinian armed group in Gaza.
“It will take a bit more time. But there’s no doubt that our great achievements in Iran contribute to achieving the goals in Gaza,” he said.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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