From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Netanyahu to Iranians: Your regime fears you; another attack on Israel would paralyze Iran’s economy
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
In an English-language video statement addressed to the Iranian people, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that a third Iranian attack on Israel “would simply cripple Iran’s economy.”
“It would rob you of many more billions of dollars,” he says, after claiming that the October ballistic missile attack on Israel cost Tehran $2.3 billion.
A special message from me to the Iranian people: there’s one thing Khamenei’s regime fears more than Israel. It’s you — the people of Iran. Don’t lose hope.
پیام ویژهای از من برای مردم ایران: یک چیز هست که رژیم خامنهای بیش از اسرائیل از آن میترسد. آن شما هستید — مردم ایران.… pic.twitter.com/iADxSjNXCs
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 12, 2024
The statement can also be interpreted as a threat that if Iran attacks again, Israel will seek to cause significant economic damage to Iran.
Iran has threatened to strike Israel again after Israel retaliated last month with an airstrike on Iranian air defense batteries and military sites protecting crucial energy facilities.
Netanyahu says that the October attack “did marginal damage to Israel.”
“But what damage did [it] do to you?” he asks. “That sum could have added billions to your transportation budget. It could have added billions to your education budget.”
Netanyahu argues that Iranians’ lives would be transformed if the regime spent money on education, infrastructure and health care instead of on wars with Israel.
“I know that you don’t want this war,” says Netanyahu. “I don’t want this war either. The people of Israel don’t want this war. There is one force putting your family in grave danger: the tyrants of Tehran. That’s it.”
While the Iranian regime gets weaker, says Netanyahu, Israel gets stronger. “The world has seen but a fraction of our power,” he says.
“Yet there’s one thing Khamenei’s regime fears more than Israel. You know what it is? It’s you — the people of Iran. That’s why they spend so much time and money trying to crush your hopes and curb your dreams.”
Looking to a future in which there is peace between Israel and Iran, Netanyahu says: “Don’t lose hope. And know that Israel and others in the free world stand with you.”
