PM says Jerusalem working ‘side by side’ with Washington to confront Tehran, vows that era of containment is over: ‘If you don’t come to the jungle, the jungle comes to you’

As US and Israeli preparations for a possible strike on Iran continue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a sharp threat to Tehran’s leaders, should they fire missiles at Israel.

“We are prepared for any scenario,” he said at an IDF cadets graduation ceremony. “And one thing is certain — if the ayatollahs make a mistake and attack us, they will face a response they can’t even imagine.”

Netanyahu said Israel is “operating side by side with our major ally, the United States” to face the Iranian threat. During his meeting in Washington last week with US President Donald Trump, he said he provided him with “Israel’s position on the guiding principles for any talks with Iran.”

Tensions in the region have ratcheted up in recent days, with the US deploying a significant naval and aerial force to the region, said to be the biggest since 2003. While the US and Iran have held two rounds of nuclear talks in recent weeks, the White House has since indicated that the sides remain far apart. Trump said Thursday that he expected to make a decision on Iran within the next 10 days.

Netanyahu told the gathered cadets on Thursday that Israeli security policy now eschews the notion of “containing” threats, indicating, instead, that Israel now actively confronts threats beyond its borders.

“If you don’t come to the jungle, the jungle comes to you,” he also said.

“There is no more containment of threats. There is no more Mabam,” Netanyahu said, using the Hebrew acronym for the “campaign between wars.” The “Mabam” military concept guided IDF operations, notably in Syria and Lebanon, for the decade before October 7, 2023. Netanyahu was in office for all but 18 months of that period.

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