Netanyahu says Israel hit Iranian nuclear infrastructure during strike

Israel destroyed a component of Tehran's nuclear program while degrading its defense and missile production capabilities during the IDF’s aerial strike on Iran in October, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset on Monday as he pledged to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining atomic weapons.

"There is a specific component in their nuclear program that was hit in this attack,” he explained, in a wide-ranging foreign policy speech to the plenum, in which he spoke of the centrality of Iran and its pursuit of nuclear weapons to Israel’s multi-front war.

He did not identify the component but added that despite the success of that hit, Iran's path to a nuclear weapon had not yet been blocked.

On Oct. 26, Israeli fighter jets carried out three waves of attacks on Iranian military targets, a few weeks after Iran had fired a barrage of about 200 ballistic missiles against Israel. This followed a previous round of an attack and counterattack in April between Israel and Iran.

Netanyahu, in his speech, offered a few more details on what Israel had targeted in that April strike, in which the IDF took out one of four Russian-supplied S-300 surface-to-air missile defense batteries around Tehran, the Iranian capital, Netanyahu said.

In October, Netanyahu said, Israel destroyed the remaining three batteries and caused serious damage to Iran's ballistic missile production capabilities and its ability to produce solid fuel, which is used in long-range ballistic missiles.

Israel has had a wary eye on the possibility of another Iranian attack and is already planning its response. Among the steps the IDF could take should the Islamic Republic escalate the strength of its direct attacks on Israel, is a hit on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

US President Joe Biden has in the past not supported such a step, but it’s expected that President-elect Donald Trump could give Israel free rein to take hit Iran's nuclear facilities.

At the end of the day, Netanyahu told the Knesset, that Israel will be tested by its ability to thwart and or destroy Iran’s nuclear program.

“If we don't take care of [Iran’s] nuclear program, then all the other problems will return,” and Iran’s proxies will be able to rearm and attack Israel once more, he said, adding that the only way to prevent other October 7 style attacks was to prevent a nuclear Iran.

“That's why we are committed to doing it,” he said.

Earlier, he had told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel’s ability to act against Iran’s nuclear program and other threats “will be tested in the near future together with the incoming administration in Washington.”

During his speech in the Knesset plenum, Netanyahu recalled how he and Trump were in agreement on Iran, speaking of it in conversations they have held since the November 5 election.

"We did not talk about the methods of action. For the moment, we did not talk about policy. There is time for that, when the president enters office. But I can say that we see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat,” Netanyahu said.

He hinted that he would be willing to ignore a US dictate on Iran in the last months of Biden’s presidency, as he listed how he has attempted to navigate his great respect for the sitting president with their policy differences.

“I say "yes" when possible, and I say "no" when necessary - and that's how we manage it,” Netanyahu said.

In describing the last 14 months of Israel's multi-front wars, Netanyahu said that the central enemy was Iran, which has “engraved our destruction on its flag.”

Tehran's power is based on three things: its axis of proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis as well as its ballistic missiles and its nuclear weapons program.

In running through a history of Israel’s military decisions in the war, Netanyahu underscored how important it was for the Jewish state to retain its ability to make independent decisions, even if meant opposing its closest ally the United States.

He thanked Biden for his strong support, including his arrival in Israel less than two weeks after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

“Let's not forget that,” Netanyahu said.

Addressing US objections

But from the start, both he and his admiration opposed Israel’s strategy choices from the start, including something as basic as a ground campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas.

At first, the Biden administration objected but as the war went it also threatened to halt weapons shipments to Israel in an effort to prevent the IDF’s Rafah operation.

Netanyahu recalled how he had told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the time, "Tony, if we have to, we will fight with our fingernails" - we will fight with our fingernails.”

He dismissed objections to the Rafah campaign, fearing that if Israel caved to the US demands, it would lose its independence as a country.”

With every step moving forward,  “we will not be able to do anything,” he said. With “every step we want to take we will be threatened that one weapon or another weapon would be stopped, and that this is impossible.”

Reuters contributed to this report.