 "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening of the 25th Knesset session marking the anniversary of the \"Iron Swords\" war, in Jerusalem, on Monday. AP")
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that Iran leads an “axis of evil” and Israel is the only obstacle preventing this evil from spreading and threatening peace around the world.
In a speech to lawmakers as Israel’s parliament began its winter session, Times of Israel quoted Netanyahu as saying, “Iran is working for a stockpile of nuclear bombs and will be able to threaten the entire world whenever it wants. If Israel falls, the entire Middle East will fall into its hands, but we will not fall. We will win, and the whole world will be a better place.”
Netanyahu said that Israel hit key Iranian sites hard during Saturday’s airstrikes.
“We severely damaged Iran’s defence systems and its ability to export missiles,” said Netanyahu. “These were not lathes we were attacking. These are industrial factories of death, and we struck them hard,” added the Prime Minister.
Netanyahu said that the United States played no role in convincing Israel to tone down its response to Iran’s bombardment on 1 October.
“We make decisions ourselves according to our interests and considerations,” said Netanyahu.
With regards to the war in Gaza and Lebanon, Netanyahu said the “day after” the conflict, “Hamas will no longer rule Gaza and Hezbollah will not sit on our northern border. Total victory is an orderly and consistent work plan that we fulfil step by step.”
Netanyahu expressed his desire for peace with Arab countries following a year of conflict in Gaza and Lebanon that has fueled anger among Arab nations.
His remarks came as Washington works to unite Arab countries around long-term governance plans for the Gaza Strip and to advance further normalization agreements with Israel following the 2020 Abraham Accords.
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More Shorts“I aspire to continue the process I went through a few years ago, with the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, in order to achieve peace with other Arab countries,” AFP quoted Netanyahu as saying.
The US-brokered Abraham Accords saw Gulf countries Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Morocco, establish formal ties with Israel.
“I emphasise peace for peace, peace out of strength with important countries in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.
“These countries and other countries see very well the blows we inflict on those who attack us, the Iranian axis of evil,” he added.
“They are impressed by our determination and courage. Like us, they aspire to a stable, secure, prosperous Middle East.”
The Abraham Accords were reached under the administration of then-president Donald Trump, who is seeking a return to the White House.
The United States, Israel’s main backer, has long sought to broker an eventual agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which would entail US security guarantees for the kingdom.
Washington has hoped to give an incentive to Netanyahu to stop the war and gain a powerful Arab ally, the guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.
Riyadh, however, has conditioned any such agreement on the recognition of an independent Palestinian state - a prospect rejected by Israel.
Saudi Arabia did not join the 2020 deals and has never recognised Israel.
An agreement had nevertheless seemed closer last year, before the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, which sparked the deadliest ever war in Gaza.
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to make headway with Saudi Arabia on normalisation with Israel.
The top US diplomat flew directly from Tel Avivi in Israel to the Saudi capital Riyadh, on a tour of the Middle East days before the US election.
“There remains, despite everything that’s happened, an incredible opportunity in this region to move in a totally different direction,” Blinken said minutes before he left Israel.
“Saudi Arabia would be right at the heart of that, and that includes potentially normalisation of relations with Israel.”
With inputs from agencies