Israel must 'strike Iran now' to 'destroy' regime: fmr. Israeli PM Naftali Bennett
WASHINGTON — Israel is now facing the most dangerous and decisive moment in its war with Iran since Oct. 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, his War Cabinet, and top IDF generals are actively discussing how to best respond to the nearly 200 missiles that the Iranian regime fired at the Jewish state on Tuesday.
The Israeli leadership is also actively discussing the best way to win the year-long war against Israel that Tehran has waged — and how best to neutralize the growing and existential threat posed by the Iranian regime if they can acquire nuclear warheads.
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U.S. President Joe Biden is warning Netanyahu not to hit Iran’s nuclear program.
Former President Donald Trump says Biden’s counsel to Israel is “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” saying the Iranian nuclear program is the most dangerous threat facing the Middle East and driving the globe towards World War III.
BENNETT URGES NETANYAHU TO STRIKE NOW TO TOPPLE IRANIAN REGIME
Enter Naftali Bennett.
Bennett served as Israel’s 13th prime minister.
While out of office right now, he is the most popular political leader in Israel today.
Polls show that he would likely be Israel’s next prime minister if elections were held today.
That said, though a sharp critic of Bibi who is aggressively angling to replace him, Bennett nevertheless is urging Netanyahu not to hesitate, not to bow to Biden’s pressure, but to strike now to destroy Iran’s nuclear program and oil refineries.
What’s more, Bennett is urging Netanyahu to go all the way and topple the Iranian regime once and for all.
BENNETT SPEAKS TO EVANGELICAL LEADERS AT ‘EPICENTER BRIEFING’ IN CALIFORNIA
Last Thursday night, I hosted and interviewed Bennett at the “Epicenter Briefing,” an intimate, closed-door, and invitation-only event for Evangelical pastors, ministry leaders, women’s ministry leaders, prayer partners, and donors of The Joshua Fund and ALL ISRAEL NEWS.
During our Q&A session after his keynote opening address, Bennett was asked the following question by one of the attendees.
“If you were prime minister right now, what would you be doing to neutralize the threats of the Iranian regime?”
It was an excellent and timely question.
As it happened, this was the night before Israel assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
And just days before Iran’s massive missile attack against Israel.
BENNETT: WE NEED TO STRIKE THE HEAD OF THE OCTOPUS BEFORE IRAN GETS THE BOMB
“I'll share with you my view of Iran — and it has developed throughout the years,” Bennett told the 150 Evangelical leaders gathered in Carlsbad, California.
“So, I've been fighting Hezbollah for [a long time] and gradually I realized that we're making a big strategic mistake,” he noted.
“Our enemy is Iran, and I call it the ‘Octopus of Terror.’ The octopus has its head in Tehran, in Iran, and it sends its tentacles all across the Middle East through proxies.”
“In Lebanon, it's Hezbollah. In Gaza, it's Hamas. In Yemen, it's the Houthis, and so on and so forth.”
“What we’ve been doing, I think unwisely for 30 years, was we've been fighting the fingers of this octopus. But the head of the octopus, a thousand kilometers away from us in Tehran, is laying back supine, enjoying life and immune from any danger. Yet they are the ones who are funding, training, arming and commanding these tentacles to shed our blood.”
“And then I came up with what I call ‘The Octopus Doctrine’ or strategy, which essentially says we should try and avoid local tactical skirmishes and redirect our national security energy to weaken Iran and topple that regime.”
“And I want to be very clear about our goal,” Bennett said.
“Our goal is to topple — or should be to topple — Iran's regime.”
“That's what we need to do. We need to topple Iran's regime ASAP — certainly before they acquire a nuclear weapon.”
When he was finished, Bennett received a roaring and sustained standing ovation.
AFTER THE IRAN MISSILE ATTACK, BENNETT SAYS ‘NOW IS THE MOMENT’ TO DESTROY IRANIAN NUCLEAR AND OIL FACILITIES AND THE REGIME
Several days later– on Oct. 1, the day Iran fired nearly 200 missiles at Israel — Bennett posted a statement on X.
His message was clear: It’s time to implement his strategy in full.
“Israel has now its greatest opportunity in 50 years, to change the face of the Middle East,” Bennett wrote.
“The leadership of Iran, which used to be good at chess, made a terrible mistake this evening.”
“We must act now to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime,” Bennett insisted.
Israel should “strike the head of the Octopus of Terror, that, in its cowardice, sent its tentacles (Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, etc.) to murder us, while the ayatollahs sat safely in their palaces in Tehran.”
“The octopus' tentacles are temporarily paralyzed,” Bennett observed. “Now comes the head.”
“We must remove this terrible threat to our children's future. We can grant the Iranian people an opportunity to rise up and shake off the regime that tyrannizes its women and daughters.”
“We have the justification. We have the tools. Now that Hezbollah and Hamas are paralyzed, Iran stands exposed.”
“Over this last terrible year, Iranian tentacles murdered our families,” Bennett wrote. “Raped our daughters. Kidnapped our children. Ransacked our towns. Burned our fields. Fired on our ships. Terrorized children in Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Aza and Sderot. Emptied out whole regions of our land. Humiliated us.”
“Now is the moment.”
“A Nation of Lions has united and proven its strength over the last year. It has yearned for a change, for action, for so very long. There are times when history knocks at our door, and we must open it.”
“This opportunity must not be missed,” Bennett insisted.
WHY WE INVITED BENNETT
As nonprofit and non-partisan organizations, neither ALL ISRAEL NEWS nor The Joshua Fund endorse or support candidates for office in Israel, the United States, or anywhere else.
As educational organizations, we invited Bennett months ago to talk to us about the horrors of Oct. 7th, the seven-front war that Iran has been waging against Israel, and how the former prime minister thinks Israel should handle the situation going forward.
After all, his is a unique perspective.
In addition to serving as Israel’s first-ever Orthodox religious leader since 1948, Bennett previously served as Israel’s defense minister.
He was also a commander in Sayeret Matkal and Maglan, the IDF’s most elite special forces units, leading search and destroy missions against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
We will share more of his remarks soon and my analysis of what he said.
For now, let me just say how deeply impressed our audience was and how grateful they were that he took the time to come speak to us about the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7 and the very serious strategic threats — and very exciting strategic opportunities — facing Israel today.
ALL ISRAEL NEWS is based in Jerusalem and is a trusted source of news, analysis and information from Israel to our Christian friends around the world.
