Netanyahu: If Iran attacks Israel, it will face ‘a response they can’t even imagine’

As US and Israeli preparations for a possible strike on Iran continue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a sharp threat to Tehran’s leaders, should they fire missiles at Israel.

“We are prepared for any scenario,” he said at an IDF cadets graduation ceremony. “And one thing is certain — if the ayatollahs make a mistake and attack us, they will face a response they can’t even imagine.”

Netanyahu said Israel is “operating side by side with our major ally, the United States” to face the Iranian threat. During his meeting in Washington last week with US President Donald Trump, he said he provided him with “Israel’s position on the guiding principles for any talks with Iran.”

Tensions in the region have ratcheted up in recent days, with the US deploying a significant naval and aerial force to the region, said to be the biggest since 2003. While the US and Iran have held two rounds of nuclear talks in recent weeks, the White House has since indicated that the sides remain far apart. Trump said Thursday that he expected to make a decision on Iran within the next 10 days.

Netanyahu told the gathered cadets on Thursday that Israeli security policy now eschews the notion of “containing” threats, indicating, instead, that Israel now actively confronts threats beyond its borders.

“If you don’t come to the jungle, the jungle comes to you,” he also said.

“There is no more containment of threats. There is no more Mabam,” Netanyahu said, using the Hebrew acronym for the “campaign between wars.” The “Mabam” military concept guided IDF operations, notably in Syria and Lebanon, for the decade before October 7, 2023. Netanyahu was in office for all but 18 months of that period.

Turning specifically to Gaza, Netanyahu reiterated his promise that Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized.

Speaking at the same time as Trump addressed the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington, where he declared that the war in Gaza is over, Netanyahu stressed that “there will be no rehabilitation of the Strip before the demilitarization of the Strip.”

“Very soon, Hamas will face a dilemma — to give up its weapons the easy way, or to give up its weapons the hard way,” Netanyahu declared. He added that demilitarized zones or security zones inside enemy territory “are a vital need in order to minimize the danger of a ground invasion,” noting with pride that IDF troops remain in strategic positions inside Syria and Lebanon.

Also speaking at the same ceremony on Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel will act against “every threat, near and far.”

“We beheaded the leadership of the Houthi terror organization in Yemen that attacked Israel, and removed the threats of annihilation over the State of Israel in Operation Rising Lion in Iran,” Katz said. “We will not allow threats of annihilation against the State of Israel in the future either, and we will act against every threat, near and far.”

The defense minister added: “I say from here to all our enemies: Do not test us and do not challenge our determination, because you will find a united people and a strong and victorious army facing you.”

And speaking after Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the military’s “eyes are open in every direction, and our finger is more poised on the trigger than ever in the face of any change in the operational reality.”

“Anyone who seeks to test our determination will encounter power that will exact an immediate and heavy price,” he added.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.