Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the “end is near” for the Iranian regime, and asserted Israel’s determination to “complete the mission” of toppling it, in a video message released by his office ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

If Iran were to “miscalculate” and attack Israel, “it will suffer a blow it cannot even imagine,” Netanyahu warned in the video, taken at the start of a cabinet meeting.

The premier surveyed military accomplishments of recent years, then said: “The achievements are great — but there is more to complete. I mean, first and foremost, the fall of the regime.”

The regime, he said, “is weak, it is fighting for its life, it is faltering,” and “its end is near.” In a summary of the video published by his office, the premier was quoted as calling to “complete the mission” of toppling the regime.

The comments came amid concerns that Iran could attack Israel during the Jewish holiday season, which begins with Rosh Hashanah on Friday night.

Netanyahu made similar remarks on Thursday, saying Israel’s “central mission” is to topple the Iranian regime, while crediting Israel’s military operations since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre with stemming the Iranian nuclear and missile threats.

Also on Sunday, Iran said it struck an unmanned US vessel trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, a claim that the US military dismissed as a “total lie.”

The purported attack came a day after the US military said forces struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to Navy warships being targeted with ballistic missiles. Experts called it a dangerous escalation after Iran’s previous attacks at sea targeted commercial shipping.

“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an........

© The Times of Israel