Former defense minister Avigdor Liberman said Saturday that Iran is “obsessed” with seeking revenge against Israel following the 12-day war between the two enemy nations, warning that Jerusalem will have to strike again at some point.
Liberman, who heads the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, told the Channel 12 news program “Meet the Press” that revenge is “all the Iranian leadership thinks about.”
“I could tell you the same thing that the intelligence assessments and officials say” about Iran’s nuclear capabilities in the wake of the Israeli and US strikes, he added, saying “they all speak of around one to two years” for Iran to reconstitute its nuclear program.
While Tehran’s nuclear ambitions will remain a problem, Liberman said, “what is more worrying is that all Iran is currently obsessed with is waging a war of revenge” against Israel.
“That’s the only thing that interests them right now. A war of revenge, that’s it,” he stated.
When asked if he thinks that means Israel should attack Iran again, Liberman answered that “it would be worthwhile for us to strike first again.”
“This time, Iran wants to deliver the first blow,” he said.
He also said, “It’s not just theoretical” that Iran is working to revive its nuclear program.
“And what worries me most are the ballistic missiles,” Liberman said. “You saw what happened here when just 26 missiles landed inside Israel and the level of damage that it caused.”
“They are preparing for a major strike,” he continued, adding that Iran has thousands of missiles. “Imagine if it wasn’t just 26 missiles that impact Israel, what if it were 260 missiles? What kind of damage would that cause?”
Therefore, “we have no other choice” but to strike Iran first, according to Liberman, who said that is what he would do if he were in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position. “I hope that is what they are planning.”
“And I would tell the Mossad to work toward one goal: regime change,” he said, arguing that total regime change is the only way to ensure that Iran is not a threat to Israel.
Iran and Israel last exchanged blows after the Israeli military launched a surprise assault on nuclear and military targets inside Iran on June 13, 2025, kicking off a 12-day war between the two sides.
Israel said its assault was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
Though Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. The Islamic Republic had taken recent steps toward weaponization, Israel said during the war.
Iran retaliated against Israel’s strikes by launching over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,100 drones at Israel. The attacks killed 29 people and wounded over 3,000 in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals. Iran also attacked a US base in Qatar in retaliation for Washington’s strikes.
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