In rare move, Netanyahu publicly confirms targeting Iranian missile production facilities

During the official government mourning ceremony on Sunday commemorating those who were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Israel’s strikes on Iran on Saturday morning as “precise and powerful” and that the attack “achieved all its goals.” 

Speaking at the national mourning ceremony, Netanyahu described the Iranian regime as “the head of the octopus.” He said Israel is engaged in “an existential war, a war of seven fronts against the axis of evil led by Iran.” 

Referring to the Iranian ballistic missile attack, which came after Israel killed Hezbollah Sec.-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah, the prime minister said, “That attack failed.” 

“We promised then that it would be answered firmly. And in the early hours of Saturday morning we kept our promises,” Netanyahu told those ceremony attendees.

“The Air Force attacked throughout Iran. We severely damaged Iran's defense capability and its ability to produce missiles aimed at us.”

The direct statements about the attacks represent a shift in how the Israeli government speaks about operations targeting Iran. In the past, Israeli officials were publicly reticent to take responsibility for strikes against Iranian targets, even when those targets were outside of Iran. 

Over the past few years, the IDF has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets in Syria and occasionally targeted sites within Iran – all without publicly admitting its role in such strikes. 

However, following the Iranian missile attack against Israel in April, and the IDF's response, Israel is increasingly willing to publicly admit its operations against the Iranian regime, and even to speak openly about further escalation. 

Leaders like Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Israel Katz have referred to Iran and its proxies as the "Axis of Evil" or compared the regime to an octopus with many arms spread throughout the Middle East, referring to its terror proxies.

“All this [operation] comes after we have been systematically acting, in the last few months, according to an orderly plan to cut off the octopus arms of Iran: Hezbollah and Hamas,” Netanyahu said in his speech on Sunday. “Yesterday, we hit the head of the octopus, the Iranian regime.” 

However, the prime minister was quick, as in previous statements, to differentiate his actions against the Iranian regime from his attitude towards the Iranian people. 

“To the people of Iran, I say, ‘Our struggle is not against you, but against the tyrannical regime that oppresses you and threatens the entire region, for this regime to understand a simple principle, ‘Whoever hurts us, we hurt him,’” Netanyahu explained. “This is the principle that has guided us until today and it is the principle that will guide us in the future as well.” 

“The attack in Iran was precise and powerful and achieved all its goals,” he remarked before publicly thanking the leadership of the various organizations and individuals involved in the strike on Iran. 

Netanyahu also thanked “the United States for the close coordination and assistance” in the attack. 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also addressed attendees at the ceremony, describing the Israeli strike as “precise, lethal and surprising.”

He warned the Iranian regime, “Israel’s long arm will reach anyone who tries to harm us.” 

“There is no place too far away for us.”