Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the podium Saturday to defend the framework agreement his country reached with Lebanon, making the case that the deal strengthens Israel’s position rather than limiting it.
At the start of the briefing, Netanyahu explained that Israeli forces had only pulled back from two pilot areas that military commanders determined were not operationally needed. He said Israeli troops would continue holding what he referred to as the “yellow security zone.”
“We remain in the yellow security zone that protects us, and that is a tremendous, tremendous achievement,” he said, noting that outside pressure to remove Israeli forces from that area had not succeeded.
Netanyahu extended thanks to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli negotiating team, and the Lebanese government for their roles in reaching the accord. He said Israel had “dealt Hezbollah a severe blow” and was “breaking not only Iran’s axis of terror, but also its political axis.”
The prime minister said Hezbollah had held approximately 150,000 rockets and missiles before the conflict began. He said Israel had destroyed around 90% of that stockpile, eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah along with commanders of the Radwan Force, and killed more than 1,000 Hezbollah fighters since the war started — including more than 200 in just the past two weeks.
Netanyahu also noted that Israeli forces had taken control of the Beaufort and the Ali al-Taher Ridge overlooking Bint Jbeil, and that operations to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure throughout the security zone were continuing.
“There are bunkers there, there are tunnels there, there are terror villages there. We are eliminating all of it,” he said, while acknowledging that explosive drones remain a significant ongoing threat.
When i24NEWS reporter Nadav Elimelech asked whether the agreement restricts Israel’s operational freedom against Hezbollah, Netanyahu was direct. He said military orders remain unchanged and that soldiers are required to act when they identify a threat.
“If you see a threat, act,” he said. “It is not only the right to act — it is the obligation to act against an immediate threat.” He cited a recent operation in which Israeli forces destroyed a building housing seven Hezbollah fighters before they could carry out an attack.
On the topic of domestic politics, Netanyahu called for national unity, invoking former Prime Minister Menachem Begin. “As Menachem Begin said, ‘No more civil war.’ There will not be one here,” he said. He expressed his intention to form “a broad national government — not a narrow government, not a left-wing government dependent on Arab parties,” and said any party that supports Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, individual rights, a free economy, technological progress, and Israel’s right to defend itself would be welcome.
On the question of Haredi conscription, raised by Elimelech, Netanyahu said arresting Torah students inside yeshivas discourages military enlistment rather than encouraging it. “Young Haredim want to enlist,” he said, arguing that such enforcement produces “exactly the opposite” effect. He added, however, that those not engaged in Torah study should still be subject to the full force of the law.
Channel 14 reporter Saria Herush pressed Netanyahu on what would happen if Hezbollah violated the agreement and what guarantees Israel had received from Lebanon and the United States. Netanyahu replied that Israel’s main assurance was its own military strength. “The moment they violate the agreement … we strike with great force,” he said. He called Lebanon’s decision to sign the deal “a very courageous move” because it effectively communicated to Hezbollah and Iran, “We are making peace with Israel.”
Netanyahu said support for the agreement had come from Lebanon’s Christian, Druze, Muslim, and even some Shiite communities. He cautioned, however, that Israel would evaluate the deal based on Lebanon’s actions, and he said the Lebanese army still needs to reform because, in his words, “There are jihadists within its ranks.”
Ynet reporter Itamar Eichner raised criticism from opposition lawmaker Gadi Eisenkot, who called Lebanon “a political graveyard for prime ministers.” Netanyahu brushed off the remark, saying that following Eisenkot’s advice would have meant halting operations in Khan Yunis, bypassing Rafah, staying out of Lebanon, and leaving Hamas and Hezbollah largely untouched.
“So, you know what I say? I’ll answer you in Yiddish,” Netanyahu said. “Who cares?” He added that national security, not politics, drives his decisions. On a separate question about recognizing the Armenian Genocide, he responded, “I did not block it, and I certainly support it.”
Israel Hayom reporter Danny Zaken asked whether the Lebanon deal conflicted with a US-Iran memorandum of understanding. Netanyahu said Israel is not party to that agreement but will continue acting in its own interests. He announced plans to send a delegation to Washington to present Israel’s stance on Iran’s nuclear program and said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had backed Israel’s position on maintaining the security zone in southern Lebanon.
On the question of future coalition partners, Netanyahu said he would welcome any party that accepts his core principles. He firmly rejected the creation of a Palestinian state “between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River,” saying public sentiment has shifted during the war. He argued that most Israelis oppose internal conflict and that a broad national consensus is needed to build on military gains in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.
Closing the press conference, Netanyahu pushed back against critics who said Israel had fallen short of its wartime goals. “Your government didn’t achieve 100 percent; you only achieved 80 or 90 percent,” he said of his opponents. “That is a joke. It is simply not serious.”
He said Israel had neutralized the immediate nuclear threat from Iran, significantly damaged Tehran’s ballistic missile production, secured the return of all hostages from Gaza, dismantled most of Hamas’s military capability, and shifted the strategic balance in Lebanon. He concluded that those achievements must now be protected through a broad national government capable of tackling what remains and pursuing further regional agreements.
