Israeli president defends war with Iran, says targeted oil sites were 'not the oil reserves of the people'

"It's a connected war. It started October 7th, and we're reaching - actually, in my mind, I think we may be reaching the final chapter of the war by changing the entire configuration of the Middle East. In order to reach change, you have to fight the Iranians. The Iranians are the source of derailing any peace process in the region."

"They had a grand plan of eradicating Israel by terror. Tehran built a network of terror across the Middle East and beyond, fueling proxy forces with huge, huge quantities of ammunition, terrorists, and money. If we remove the Iranian threat, we can enable oxygen, we can enable the whole system to all of a sudden start breathing and moving on in the region."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog characterizes the ongoing conflict as a connected war beginning with Hamas's October 7 assault, inseparable from Iran's broader regional strategy. He argues that Iran represents the fundamental obstacle to peace in the Middle East, having constructed a network of proxy forces and terror organizations funded with weapons and money. Herzog contends that removing the Iranian threat is essential for regional stability and transformation. He frames targeted Iranian military assets as legitimate military targets rather than civilian infrastructure. Herzog positions the current phase as potentially decisive in reshaping Middle Eastern geopolitics, describing Iran as the source of regional destabilization and the center of what he calls an "Empire of Evil coalition."

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