Netanyahu Says He Has Directed Israeli Military to Topple Iran's Government as Trump Hints at Strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he has directed the Israeli military, the Mossad and the defense establishment to topple Iran's government, telling graduating IDF officers, according to The Jerusalem Post. He said Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is again trying to build a nuclear bomb. The remarks came days before Israel's October 27 elections. Netanyahu also referred to President Trump's suggestion, made while endorsing him for those elections, that the U.S. and Israel will complete the job against Iran. Trump and Netanyahu have both indicated that a new U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran is on the table. Both frame the conflict as preventing a nuclear-armed Iran, though one report noted that US intelligence agencies concluded Tehran had not decided to pursue nuclear weapons before the June 2025 war or the current war.

Right-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing; left-leaning and alternative outlets had. NPR, on the left, asks whether the two countries are close to a new attack and sets out what is known of their war plans. Among alternative outlets, ZeroHedge leads with Netanyahu's statement, the election timing and the intelligence assessment, while Zeteo offers a historical piece on Netanyahu's influence on U.S. counterterrorism thinking.