Netanyahu says third Iran confrontation possible ‘if necessary’

Asked in the Hebrew-language interview whether Israel could face another round of fighting with Iran, Netanyahu reiterated his pledge that Tehran would not acquire nuclear weapons while he remained in power.

“As long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” he said.

The Israeli prime minister was asked whether his Gaza war pledge to achieve “total victory” was still in force.

“It never ends. Do you want to live in the Middle East or in the world? You have to be very strong. And we are very strong. Israel is stronger than it has ever been, and we have put off threats and weakened (our adversaries) considerably. We have more work to do. We will take care of what is left of the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu said.

He said Israel was “stronger than it has ever been” and had weakened its adversaries, while acknowledging that more work remained.

He also cited what he described as Israel's killing of much of the leadership of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, while appearing to acknowledge that the outcome of the Iran war fell short of his initial objectives of destroying Tehran's nuclear and missile programs and helping bring about regime change, according to the Times of Israel.