Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Thursday night that Israel is surpassing expectations in its ongoing military offensive against Iran, boasting that the campaign is “ahead of schedule” and vowing that all of Iran’s nuclear sites — including the heavily fortified Fordo facility — will be targeted and neutralized.

Speaking in a rare interview on Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, Netanyahu provided an expansive update on Israel’s week-old preemptive assault. He said at least half of Iran’s missile launchers have been destroyed, key military figures eliminated, and Iran’s feared Basij paramilitary forces heavily damaged.

“We are ahead of the schedule we set, both in terms of timing and results,” Netanyahu said. “The work has been outstanding.”

He attributed the timing of the assault to a string of successful IDF operations late last year.

“The elimination of [former Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah and the blow to Hamas broke the Iranian axis. What do they have left?” he said.

Netanyahu insisted Israel has the capability to strike Iran’s deeply buried Fordo nuclear site — widely believed to be impervious to most conventional munitions — even without U.S. assistance.

“We will achieve all our objectives and hit all of their nuclear facilities,” he said.

While Israeli officials continue to express hope that the U.S. will join the operation, Netanyahu downplayed the importance of Washington’s decision.

“Whether [President] Trump wants to join or not — that’s entirely his decision. He’ll do what’s good for the United States, and I’ll do what’s good for the State of Israel,” he said. “Every contribution is welcome.”

Netanyahu revealed that Israel has struck the Iranian regime’s internal enforcers — the Basij militia — describing the group as “a million-strong internal police force” used to suppress dissent.

“We’re striking the Basij,” he said. “We’ve inflicted heavy damage, and we will continue to strike their targets.”

The Basij is a volunteer-based arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and has played a central role in crushing anti-regime protests in Iran for decades. Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said earlier this week that the Israeli Air Force destroyed the headquarters of the Iranian regime’s internal security apparatus, though Iranian media disputed the claim.

Netanyahu also addressed public concerns about Israel’s dwindling stockpile of Arrow missile interceptors, saying the U.S. is helping replenish the arsenal — but stressed that Israel is degrading Iran’s launch capability at the source.

“We’re striking the launchers. It doesn’t matter how many rockets they have — it matters how many launchers they have. And we’ve already passed the halfway mark,” he said.

The interview also shed light on Israel’s increasingly independent military posture in the face of shifting U.S. administrations. Netanyahu contrasted his current cooperation with President Trump — whom he says has not interfered in the Iran campaign — with past tensions under President Joe Biden.

“I told him, ‘Joe, I have no choice. You’re the president of the United States, I’m the prime minister of the Jewish state — we’re going in,’” Netanyahu said, referring to an earlier disagreement over Israel’s operations in Gaza. “Even if a U.S. president tries to stop us — he won’t.”

Netanyahu also insisted that Israel did not wait for U.S. approval to launch the Iran operation. “We’re not asking for a green light,” he said. “Either way, we’re going to do this, because we have no choice. We will not allow 3,500 years of Jewish history to come to an end because of this deranged ayatollah.”

Acknowledging the high stakes, Netanyahu said the government had accepted that “towers will fall” in a war with Iran — a reference to possible domestic casualties or destruction — but insisted that no cost outweighed the existential threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

“Even the worst-case scenario, we don’t dwell on predictions,” he said. “Despite the pain of losing precious civilians, we’re talking here about the possible destruction of millions… of Jewish history… of the people of Israel. There was no other option.”

Netanyahu also linked the war in Iran to Israel’s still-unfinished campaign in Gaza, saying that neutralizing Tehran — Hamas’s chief patron — increases the likelihood of securing the release of hostages still held in the enclave.

“The only real thing preventing an end to the Gaza war is the hostages,” he said. “This operation helps bring them home. Hamas relies on Iran.”

Pressed repeatedly for a timeframe on the Iran campaign, Netanyahu declined to provide even an estimate.

“It will be over by the end of the operation,” he said. “There is still much more to come.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)