The October 7 massacre made it clear that Israel must not wait until threats are at its door, Defense Minister Israel Katz stated during the memorial ceremony for the fallen soldiers of the Second Lebanon War.
As such, he said, Israel had twice struck Iran with “proactive preemptive attacks,” adding that the IDF would strike a third time “if necessary.”
“We crushed the nuclear program it was advancing and removed an existential threat from over the citizens of Israel,” Katz claimed. “We thwarted its leaders, headed by [former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, who led the plan to destroy Israel.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke at the ceremony, saying Lebanon is suffering the “price of the war” in the North due to Hezbollah’s actions.
“Lebanon was an intense battleground 20 years ago, and it remains a central arena today,” said Netanyahu. “This is happening because Hezbollah‘s jihadist fanatics turned large parts of Lebanon into massive terrorist bases.”
He spoke about his experience in the “beautiful and miserable country” as a soldier, noting the beauty of the Lebanese people. “I remember leaving Lebanon on foot with my soldiers and driving to the induction center to be discharged,” he said. “Along the way, I saw the cedars of Lebanon, which King Solomon used.”
“Its tragedy is that it has been seized by a fanatical sect and the patron power of that sect, and they want to destroy us by launching a raid from its territory,” Netanyahu added. “And this is what we have resolved, and what generations of ours have resolved, to prevent with their bodies and souls, including the generation of heroes we remember today.”
IDF will remain in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza security zones, Katz claims
Katz noted that the IDF’s current military goal in Lebanon was not to return the situation to its previous state, but to “change the reality and bring security to the residents of the North – as we have done and continue to do in the south.”
Katz also discussed the recent Israel-Lebanon-US trilateral agreement.
“Our policy for defending the borders of the State of Israel, as led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by me as Defense Minister together with the IDF, is clear,” Katz said. “The IDF will not withdraw and will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza – for an unlimited period of time – in order to protect our residents and communities from there against jihadist elements.
“There will be no Israeli redeployment in southern Lebanon, and there will be no withdrawal whatsoever as long as the Hezbollah terrorist organization has not been disarmed throughout Lebanon and the safety of the residents of the north has not been guaranteed,” Katz insisted. “This is the fundamental condition to which we committed ourselves and which we are upholding.”
However, this appears to contradict an earlier statement Katz made at a briefing for military reporters on Monday. During the briefing, he said that the pilot program for IDF withdrawals from portions of southern Lebanon while waiting to see whether the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) properly remove Hezbollah will initially focus on the zone between the IDF’s Yellow Line and the Litani River, thereby signifying intent to withdraw, at least in part.
He also claimed that Iran had failed to force Israeli troops to withdraw from Lebanon through its threats and pressure on the United States.
“An inseparable part of this achievement is also that it constitutes a strategic blow to the Iranian axis,” he stated.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
