National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi presented a rare review on Sunday to members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, including political and operational details behind the scenes of the ongoing war with Iran.

“On the ninth night of the war, something dramatic happened in Iran—in both senses of the word,” Hanegbi began [a reference to the Hebrew expression נפל דבר, which literally means “something fell,” but also means “something momentous occurred”].

Hanegbi revealed that US President Donald Trump recently asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu if he would support a “good” nuclear agreement with Tehran. According to him, Netanyahu replied, “A good agreement is the best—but it won’t happen, because the Iranians will not give up any nuclear aspirations.”

Hanegbi said that when a senior Biden administration official was presented with the possibility that Iran would obtain nuclear power, he dismissed it, saying, “I’ll sit with a cocktail on the beach.”

Hanegbi added that Israel aspires to include the issue of ballistic missiles in a future agreement with Iran—an issue that the Iranians insist on presenting as a defense capability and not an offensive weapon. “They can quickly restore their missile capabilities, but the nuclear issue will take them longer,” he emphasized.

Regarding the international arena, Hanegbi noted that “the Russians were businesslike—they condemned us only declaratively, but beyond that they didn’t act against us.”

Hanegbi referred to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a “dead man” but clarified that “currently he is not defined as a target for execution. And ‘currently’ is 60 seconds,” hinting at the possibility of a targeted strike at any time.

Hanegbi concluded with a reference to Israel’s southern front: “Hamas is not currently responding to proposals for a hostage deal—not even to the Qataris. They are standing aside and want to see which way the wind is blowing.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)