Netanyahu: Nasrallah was ‘central engine of Iran’s axis of evil’; killing him can change regional balance of power

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered the killing of Hassan Nasrallah because the Hezbollah leader’s elimination was essential to enabling the safe return of Israel’s northern residents.

In his first public statement since Israel killed Nasrallah on last night in Beirut, Netanyahu says Israel has “settled the account” with a “mass murderer” responsible for the killings of countless Israelis and dozens of American and French citizens.

Speaking hours after flying home, unusually during Shabbat, Netanyahu says Hezbollah “wasn’t another terrorist; he was the terrorist,” and “the central engine of Iran’s axis of evil.”

Nasrallah and his colleagues, Netanyahu goes on, were “the architects of the plan to destroy Israel.”

“He wasn’t merely activated by Iran. In many cases, he activated Iran,” the prime minister says.

He says that, early in the week, he recognized that even the heavy strikes Israel had inflicted on Hezbollah would not be sufficient, and that “eliminating Nasrallah was an essential condition for achieving the aims that we have set out — returning the residents of the north safely to their homes and changing the balance of power in the region for years.”

So long as Nasrallah was alive, “he would have quickly rehabilitated Hezbollah’s capabilities.

“So I gave the order and Nasrallah is no longer with us.”

It has been reported that the security establishment had been tracking Nasrallah for months, and recommended targeting him this week amid concerns that the opportunity could pass.