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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced veiled discomfort over U.S. President Donald Trump's positive remarks on Türkiye's potential access to F-35 fighter jets, saying Israel would "preserve our military air superiority" in the Middle East, without directly naming Türkiye.
Speaking at an Israeli military pilots' graduation ceremony at Hatzerim Air Base, Netanyahu addressed Israel's continued occupation in southern Lebanon and tensions with Iran.
Without naming Trump or Türkiye directly, he responded to reports of Washington's openness to Turkish F-35 access by saying: "Preserving Israel's air superiority is a cornerstone of our national security doctrine."
Netanyahu argued that geopolitical balances in the Middle East were shifting rapidly.
"The war is not yet over. Alongside old challenges, new ones continue to emerge. Old axes are collapsing and new ones are rising. We are prepared for every scenario. We always know we must remain stronger than our enemies," he said.
Israeli politicians, led by Netanyahu, voiced opposition after Trump signaled Türkiye could return to the F-35 program, with Netanyahu having given a series of interviews to U.S. media before and during the NATO Ankara summit, calling for Türkiye to be denied F-35 access.
Addressing the continued occupation in southern Lebanon, Netanyahu said Israeli forces would remain in the security zone there "as long as necessary," adding that Israeli helicopters had evacuated 3,500 Israeli soldiers since launching attacks in southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu also addressed the Feb. 28 war with Iran, saying Israel had dealt serious blows to the Iranian leadership.
"Our policy is clear. With or without a deal, Iran will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons," he said.
Notably, unlike remarks he made eight days earlier, Netanyahu did not repeat a claim that Iran already possessed a nuclear weapon, saying instead that had Israel not acted when and how it did, Iran would have armed itself with one.
In his prepared remarks, Netanyahu credited Israel's air force with strikes that killed 20 senior Iranian nuclear experts, senior leadership figures, and infrastructure tied to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and said cooperation with the U.S. military had been a major force multiplier, citing a comment he attributed to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth describing the combined U.S.-Israeli air campaign as unprecedented and unbeatable.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military is "alert and prepared for the resumption of the campaign" in Iran, and that Israel is ready to "regain air superiority and carry out 'blue-and-white' (independent) strikes in Iran to remove threats, even for a third time."
"If we need to return, we will return with even greater force," Katz said.
He also said Israel's message to Iranian leadership was that "Israel's long arm will reach you in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan and everywhere you try to threaten and harm Israel."
The Israeli army's Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the campaign in Iran was "not over," telling the ceremony that new plans were being drawn up and further major operations should be expected, urging troops to "be prepared."
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