In a closed-door session at the Kirya military headquarters Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz made explosive revelations about the scale of Iran’s planned attack against Israel — and the IDF’s lightning-fast preemptive strike that may have averted catastrophe.

Addressing the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, chaired by MK Yuli Edelstein, Katz disclosed that Iran was preparing a massive opening salvo of 400 to 500 missiles. “If we hadn’t acted first, it would have been much harder for us,” Katz said. “Our biggest challenge was opening the skies and neutralizing Iran’s air defense systems. We controlled the skies and were able to continue.”

Katz said the IDF deliberately targeted members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) over regular Iranian military personnel. “When we wanted to eliminate [Supreme Leader] Khamenei, he hid,” Katz added.

He declared the campaign in Iran an unqualified success: “We met 100% of the operational objectives in Iran, and the Americans helped a lot in the end.” With a jab at President Trump’s timing, he added wryly, “If Trump had woken up after a quarter of an hour, the strike this morning would have been even stronger.”

Katz went further, claiming that Iran’s nuclear weapons program has been decisively dismantled. “Iran no longer has the ability to produce nuclear weapons,” he asserted. “I instructed the IDF to prepare an enforcement plan, in cooperation with the Americans, based on the Lebanese model — but much more comprehensive — to prevent any future development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is now expected to travel to Washington to finalize a long-term framework with the U.S. “Right now, this is just a ceasefire,” Katz warned. “We must remember that Trump canceled the central sanction on Iran selling oil to the Chinese, and as a result, Iran could become stronger again.”

Katz also pushed back against criticism over the IDF’s operations in Gaza, amid claims that legal constraints are hampering the military’s effectiveness. “The military advocate is not harming the fighting. These are just false reports,” he said. Knesset members, however, voiced frustration that Israeli forces remain static in Gaza while being forced to supply fuel and food to areas controlled by Hamas.

On social media, Katz revealed he had spoken directly with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, expressing gratitude for America’s support and reaffirming Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire — so long as Iran holds its fire.

“I thanked him for President Donald Trump’s bold decision to act with Israel against the Iranian nuclear threat,” Katz wrote on X. “We agreed to deepen the close U.S.-Israel security cooperation.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)