In First Press Briefing Since Oct. 7, Netanyahu Vows to Topple Iran's Regime, Downplays Settler Violence

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first in-person security briefing for journalists since October 7, 2023, using the October 18 session to lay out a revised national security doctrine just over a week before the October 27 election, according to a report by The Times of Israel. "The regime must fall, and I will bring it down," Netanyahu said of Iran's government, framing the confrontation with Tehran as the centerpiece of his security approach going forward.

Netanyahu described reports of settler violence in the West Bank as exaggerated, telling reporters that Israel faced a "propaganda campaign" despite documented attacks on journalists and diplomats in the area. He also rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, arguing it would become a staging ground for Iranian influence, and announced plans for roughly $145 billion in security spending, including an expansion of domestic weapons production.

The prime minister declined to rule out any of his current far-right coalition partners ahead of the election and rejected the idea of a unity government with opposition figures, tying the completion of the country's wartime objectives directly to his own reelection and warning that his opponents would abandon those gains if given power.

Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot dismissed the briefing as "filled with slogans," pointing to an estimated 40,000 remaining Hamas operatives in Gaza, a rebuilding Hezbollah in Lebanon, and deteriorating security conditions in the West Bank as evidence that Netanyahu's stated objectives remain unmet.