In Jerusalem Day speech, Netanyahu says ‘Iran weaker than ever,’ vows continued fight against ‘radical Islam’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows that Jerusalem will remain forever under Israeli control while hailing military achievements against Iran and other foes, in remarks at Ammunition Hill during the Jerusalem Day state ceremony marking 59 years since Israel’s reunification of the city.

“The regime of terror in Iran is weaker than ever, and the State of Israel is stronger than ever,” Netanyahu declares, adding, “we will continue to fight decisively against every threat of radical Islam.”

Netanyahu repeats his assertion that if Israel had not launched military campaigns against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs in June 2025 and earlier this year, “Iran would already possess a nuclear bomb today.”

“Our enemies seek to destroy us all without exception. But they have another goal as well: to uproot us from Jerusalem. Their slogan, ‘We are on the way to Jerusalem,’ expresses their malicious intention to remove us from the heart of the Jewish nation. We will not allow that to happen,” the premier says. “Only Jerusalem under Israeli rule is a truly free city — free for all religions and all nations,” he says.

Netanyahu claims successes in the recent conflicts against Iran and its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, saying, “the power we have projected on every front [and] the alliance — closer than ever — with President Trump’s administration in the United States, our determination to strike those who seek our destruction deep within their territory, far beyond our borders, the buffer zones we have created around us in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria – all these have transformed the face of the Middle East.”

“At the same time, we will expand cooperation with moderate forces in our region who have understood the advantages of extending a hand to Israel,” he says.

In a separate speech, President Isaac Herzog makes a similar assertion that Jerusalem will remain in Israel’s hands, adding that doing so requires great moral responsibility.

“We have already proven to the entire world that we will never relinquish Jerusalem or its past — now is the time to prove to ourselves that we are capable of shaping its future with pride…through morality, responsibility, love of humanity and of one another, and respect for each person’s faith and way of life,” the president says.