Netanyahu vows Israel will achieve Iran goals via ‘agreement or fighting,' as opposition leaders decry Iran war 'debacle'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Iranian ceasefire did not catch Israel by surprise, vowing to the Israeli public that the war goals would be accomplished either through diplomacy or force during a televised statement on Wednesday evening. 

“The State of Israel has achieved immense accomplishments, achievements that until recently seemed completely imaginary,” Netanyahu stated, claiming, “Iran is weaker than ever, and Israel is stronger than ever.” 

“We still have goals to complete, and we will achieve them either by agreement or by the resumption of fighting,” the prime minister declared, warning, “We are prepared to return to combat at any necessary moment. Our finger is on the trigger.” 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

"Citizens of Israel, I want to thank you, our wonderful nation.

While you demonstrated resilience sitting in the secure rooms and shelters, together we achieved immense accomplishments: Our fighters at the front and you on the home front. pic.twitter.com/FndMquwd4X

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 8, 2026

Affirming that the U.S. “did not surprise us at the last minute,” Netanyahu continued, “I want to emphasize, this is not the end of the campaign. This is a way station on the way to achieving all of our goals.” 

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Israeli leaders were not advised of the details of the ceasefire agreement and were caught off guard by U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of the agreement.

Netanyahu told the Israeli public that Iran is “battered and weaker than ever,” while “Israel is as strong as it has ever been.” 

Netanyahu’s claims were met with strong opposition, not only from his political opponents but also from some within his own party, who allege that Israel failed to achieve the most important goals in the war with Iran. 

Opposition leader Yair Lapid gave a harshly worded speech shortly before Netanyahu’s own, in which he said that Netanyahu had “reached the worst outcome” after deceiving "the citizens of Israel, [and] his partners," by selling "a strategic plan that did not exist."

“The regime in Iran was not defeated, the nuclear threat was not removed, Hezbollah's ballistic missiles and missiles are still aimed at every home in Israel,” Lapid stated.

“The State of Israel went into this war with a rare consensus. The public supported it from wall to wall. I supported the war and its goals from the first moment in dozens of reports in the international media. But after six weeks of dead and wounded and running to shelters, it became clear that Netanyahu is incapable of winning under any evaluation.” 

Lapid claimed that “Israel had no influence on the agreement that was signed tonight between the US and Iran through Pakistani mediation.”

Going further, he said Netanyahu has turned Israel into “a protectorate that receives instructions over the phone on issues that concern the core of our national security, and at a critical moment for our security, he was removed from the table.”  

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also criticized Netanyahu and the coalition government in his own speech on Wednesday night. 

“The goals of the war were clear: the complete and permanent dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program, Iranian terrorism and missiles, and the removal of 460 kilograms of certified uranium from Iranian territory. These goals were not achieved.” 

“The campaign will only be judged by meeting these goals, because failure will place Israel in the face of a more vengeful and determined Iran that will race to nuclear power,” Bennett continued. 

Bennett said that despite Netanyahu “bragging all day about a complete victory against Hamas, a decisive victory against Hezbollah, and the defeat of Iran,” the claims are “empty promises.” 

“Each of us sees with our own eyes that Hamas is getting stronger, Hezbollah and Iran are standing on their own two feet. And this is happening because a government that dismantles Israel from within cannot defeat the enemy from without,” Bennett stated. 

While not as harsh as Lapid or Bennett, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, called the ceasefire a mistake. 

“I think it was a mistake to go to a ceasefire at this time. Countries like these, the Japanese Empire, Nazi Germany, you need to bring them to their knees,” Chikli said. However, he denied Lapid’s gloomy assessment, saying, “Iran lost its status as a regional power.” 

MK Zvika Fogel, chair of the Knesset’s National Security Committee and a member of the far-right Jewish Power party, posted an angry reaction to the announcement of the ceasefire agreement to social media. 

“Donald, you went out like a duck,” Fogel wrote in the now-deleted post to 𝕏, using a Hebrew idiom to refer to someone who is weak. 

Even Netanyahu’s former bureau chief, Natan Eshel, wrote a post to his Telegram account, blaming Trump for failing to achieve victory, without linking the ceasefire to the prime minister. 

“This is not a victory! This is a disgrace! Good and dear president, like in Korea, like in Vietnam and Afghanistan, your flop is like Russia's flop in Ukraine. So too, your war for 5 weeks in Iran. America doesn't know how to finish. You didn't destroy the weapons, you left the ballistic missiles, you left the uranium. Only American citizens will pay the price of the war that didn't remove Iran's threat to it,” Eshel wrote. 

Offering a more nuanced take, former IDF chief and Blue and White chairman, Benny Gantz, wrote on 𝕏 that "The test of the unprecedented military achievement by the IDF, the Mossad, and all security branches is still ahead of us."

However, he also called for not ending the war "without an agreement to destroy the uranium or remove it, halt ballistic missile production, and for Iran ceasing to arm its proxies."

"Today's declarations hold no significance – only the results we will see in the coming days and months. Either way: Israel must preserve for itself, in any future agreement, freedom of action against any Iranian rehabilitation attempt, continue to act against Hezbollah, and hold onto southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed and the threat to northern residents is removed," Gantz urged.