Netanyahu Says War with Iran Not Over, Hezbollah Threat Persists

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war with Iran has accomplished a great deal but is not over. Speaking with CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett, Netanyahu explained that nuclear material, enriched uranium, enrichment sites, Iranian proxies and ballistic missile production remain.

"I think it accomplished a great deal, but it's not over, because there's still nuclear material, enriched uranium that has to be taken out of Iran," Netanyahu said. "There are still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled. There are still proxies that Iran supports. There are ballistic missiles that they still want to produce. Now, we've degraded a lot of it. But all that is still there, and there's work to be done."

He said the war cannot end until those elements are eliminated, though economic pressure like President Trump's blockade could work if it succeeds. Netanyahu added that the United States and Israel agree military reengagement remains an option if necessary.

On removing highly enriched uranium, Netanyahu said, "You go in, and you take it out." He declined to detail military means but noted President Trump has publicly expressed commitment to the task.

Netanyahu stressed Iran's threats to America and Israel, citing its calls for death to both nations, past killings of Americans, embassy attacks and assassination attempts on U.S. officials. He said Iran was very close to a nuclear bomb before recent operations, which he and Trump launched to stop it.

"They were very close to developing a nuclear bomb," Netanyahu said. "In fact, if we hadn't done the two military operations that we did, they'd have a bomb within now or within a month or two."

He recounted meetings with U.S. leaders. In 2016, before the election, Trump told him at Trump Tower, "We can't let Iran have nuclear weapons. I'm gonna walk out of the terrible Iran Deal." Eight years later at Mar-a-Lago, Trump reiterated, "You know, Bibi, we cannot let Iran have nuclear weapons. I'm not gonna let it happen."

Netanyahu assessed the Iranian regime as at its weakest since 1979, with fissures from joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on petrochemical plants, steel plants and missile production sites. He questioned Supreme Leader Khamenei's condition but said the focus is maintaining pressure.

On Hezbollah, Netanyahu said Israel destroyed more than 90 percent of its 150,000 rockets and ballistic missiles, though thousands remain. Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, holds Lebanon hostage, he said. Israel wants peace with Lebanon but entered to prevent a repeat of Hamas's October 7 invasion from Gaza, where 5,000 Radwan Force terrorists planned to invade the Galilee.

"Hezbollah from Lebanon was planning to do even more," Netanyahu said. "We pushed them back. We've got a security belt now."

He rejected linking a ceasefire with Iran to one with Hezbollah, saying Iran wants the group to persist. Netanyahu hopes a weakened or toppled Iranian regime ends Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

Netanyahu denied a New York Times report on a February 11 White House meeting, saying he did not pitch regime change as guaranteed. He and Trump acknowledged uncertainties and risks but agreed inaction posed greater danger due to Iran's nuclear progress and plans to bury missile factories underground.

Israel has emerged as the Middle East's most powerful country, he said, shifting from near annihilation to strength. He credited operations like Rising Lion and Midnight Hammer, plus U.S. partnership described in a recent national security memorandum as a "model ally."

Netanyahu proposed ending U.S. military aid of $3.8 billion annually over the next decade, transitioning to equal partnership on intelligence, weapons and missile defense. "We've come of age," he said, citing Israel's booming high-tech economy.

On Gaza, he said Hamas violated a 20-point deal by not disarming or demilitarizing. Israel has reduced weapons factories and smuggling via the Philadelphia Corridor but said someone must finish the job.

Netanyahu rejected perceptions of him as eager for conflict, noting his prior restraint. October 7 changed that, as he saw an Iranian axis attempt to annihilate Israel across seven fronts.

He blamed declining U.S. support on foreign bot farms manipulating social media with fake accounts, not Israeli actions. Israel takes unprecedented steps to minimize civilian casualties, he said, with one of the lowest combatant-to-noncombatant ratios in urban warfare history.

Netanyahu addressed anti-Christian incidents as aberrations, not policy. Israel's Christian population has grown, unlike in neighboring countries. Offenders face jail or trial.

On accountability for October 7, he called for a bipartisan commission like post-9/11 to examine all levels. Since then, Israel degraded Iran's nuclear program by killing 20 top scientists and broke Tehran's aura of invincibility by flying over its skies.