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Vivian Bercovici: Netanyahu swaggers as Israel handily fends off Iranian, Hezbollah attacks

The threat, the prime minister promised, will be eradicated

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SDEROT, Israel — Shortly after 9 p.m. local time on Thursday Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first press conference since the war on Iran began on Feb. 28.

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This was the Benjamin Netanyahu of decades past; one we have not seen for many years. Energetic. Bullish. Feisty. And oozing confidence and vitality.

Vivian Bercovici: Netanyahu swaggers as Israel handily fends off Iranian, Hezbollah attacks Back to video

He reminded Israelis of the dire predictions about the country’s future in the wake of October 7. Iran was on the ascendance, perilously close to nuclear breakout. Its arsenal of ballistic missiles was in the thousands and significant national resources were diverted to producing and stockpiling more. China, Russia and Qatar were loyal and generous patrons of the Iranian regime. Its powerful Lebanese-based proxy, Hezbollah, was armed to the teeth and primed to attack Israel.

Also in this constellation of terrorist enemies of Israel, Hamas was punching way above its weight. Small and often maligned by the much stronger and better trained Hezbollah fighting force, Hamas led the most punishing attack on Israel by an enemy in 50 years. Yahya Sinwar, the man who led Hamas fighters in battle, believed he would open the sluice for what he termed the “Al Aqsa Flood,” which was the name he assigned to the October 7 attack. Hamas’ aggressive offensive, he believed, would be followed by Hezbollah and Iran, leading to the destruction of Israel, a goal that was fundamental and shared by the Islamist terror axis led by Iran.

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Israel’s future looked grim. The population was cleaved by deep domestic division. It felt as if everything was on the brink.

And that is because it was.

Thursday night, an ebullient, recharged Netanyahu boasted that Operation Roaring Lion — Israel’s current war with Iran — has reversed the country’s fortunes. The future for Israel, he said, looks very bright. He pledged to continue to fight to support regime change in Iran and pummel Israel’s enemies everywhere. The man who once promoted the doctrine of “restraint” as the most effective way to manage the Hamas threat — believing that the terror group was more interested in improving the lives of its people than destroying Israel — now personifies the roaring lion.

Netanyahu loves the limelight. But he made himself scarce since this war began 12 days ago. In fact, he had not once spoken publicly. During a war. But, as we have seen on many occasions, he prefers to make public appearances when he is more confident he will be well-received. And when he can set the terms.

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For a prime minister to ghost his own population for 12 days during what has been a very difficult war — that is an eternity. Then again, Israelis have become accustomed to a leader who prefers to engage with English language journalists who are less knowledgeable about Israeli politics and security and are also far more deferential than any Israeli media professional would be. Even the stars of American media serve up soft lobs if they land an interview with Netanyahu.

But clearly, he felt that his moment had arrived, and it was time to debut.

Just 24 hours ago, Israelis were warned by the Home Front Command to brace for a massive joint attack by Iran and Hezbollah.

Beginning shortly after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, the biggest single barrage against Israel was launched by Hezbollah, sending more than 200 rockets, drones, anti-tank missiles and rocket propelled grenades into Israeli territory from southern Lebanon. The assault lasted several hours and lit up the sky with what looked like fireworks.

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In addition to physical damage and civilian casualties, such situations also raise concerns that Hezbollah may attempt to infiltrate Israel to attack civilians, soldiers and possibly take hostages. The October 7 attack carried out by Hamas was a copy of a similar plan devised by Hezbollah’s elite fighters — the Radwan force. In a briefing with journalists on Thursday at noon, recent IDF Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said that Israel had detected movement of several hundred Radwan fighters towards the border with Israel in recent days.

Shoshani added that immediately following the first wave of missiles and rockets launched by Hezbollah, the IDF was able to neutralize or destroy more than half the launchers used in the attack. This resulted in a dramatic weakening of the potential for continued waves of missiles. As well, the Iranian missiles that were launched were neither as many as expected and those that were fired were almost all intercepted.

Hezbollah is fighting for survival. If Iran falls or is defanged, the terrorist group will be seriously degraded in terms of power and influence. And today, Netanyahu is confident that Israel’s success will only compound. Israel will not rest, he said, until the threats that have proliferated throughout the region are rendered impotent.

Buoyed as he is, Netanyahu cautioned that much work remains to be done to ensure that Israelis can live in peace and certainty.

As I write, missiles are incoming from Iran and in spite of the tremendous damage inflicted on the regime, the war is far from over. As Netanyahu cautioned, decades of hostility will not be undone as quickly as we might like. But the threat, he pledged, will be eradicated.

Vivian Bercovici is a former Canadian ambassador to Israel.

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