Netanyahu declares toppling Iran's regime an Israeli goal ahead of Knesset elections

⏱️ Timeline

1. 20 Oct 2026, 17:34 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had spoken with US President Donald Trump the previous day, saying the conversation addressed the importance of eliminating the Iranian regime.
2. 20 Oct 2026, 18:32 Netanyahu's spokesman Doron Spielman said US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Israel in a previously unannounced trip and met Netanyahu at the Ovda air base in the Negev, where they discussed regional threats and the US-Israeli partnership in confronting them. Later, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said Netanyahu met Hegseth in a secret meeting on Monday from which Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir was excluded.
3. 20 Oct 2026, 19:09 Netanyahu said that Israel, together with US President Donald Trump, will complete the mission and eliminate the Iranian threat permanently.
4. 20 Oct 2026, 20:49 In a speech at the opening of the academic year at the new Tel Hai university near the Lebanese border, Netanyahu said Israel is "committed" to toppling the Iranian regime, arguing that the fall of Tehran would bring down Hezbollah and open the door to peace with Lebanon. He added that the Israeli army had made great progress against Hezbollah but that "the mission is not yet complete", and disclosed that he had discussed the goal of toppling the Iranian regime with the US president.
5. 20 Oct 2026, 21:42 i24NEWS security analyst Yossi Yehoshua reported that Israel and the United States had been close in recent weeks to launching an attack on Iran, but the attack was halted within an agreement on a joint strike. He pointed to Iranian attempts to create chaos ahead of elections in Israel and the US midterms, and to a high state of alert for fear of miscalculation. Israel's Channel 15 reported that Israel and the US had been on the verge of a joint strike on Iran in recent weeks.
6. 21 Oct 2026, 12:12 Netanyahu said toppling the Iranian regime remains one of Israel's main goals and that he has directed the security services to work toward it, asserting that 90 percent of the work needed to defeat Israel's enemies has been completed. In turn, US President Donald Trump threatened that Washington might "finish the mission soon" against Iran if it does not change course, and declared his full support for Netanyahu before the Israeli elections scheduled for 27 October.
7. 21 Oct 2026, 14:04 In a recorded video statement at an unnamed air base a week before the Israeli elections, Netanyahu vowed to strike Israel's enemies "the moment that becomes necessary", said Israel is ready to launch a preemptive strike on Iran without US support, and that his goal is toppling the regime in Tehran, claiming that "90 percent of the mission is accomplished".
8. 21 Oct 2026, 17:40 Israel's Kan channel quoted Netanyahu as saying that Iran is again trying to develop lethal bombs and that this threat can only be removed by toppling the regime in Iran, describing that as his directive. He accused "Khamenei's son" of not learning the lesson and of returning to the nuclear project this time deep underground, arguing that he does not understand Israel's determination.
9. 21 Oct 2026, 19:02 At an election rally in the city of Dimona in southern Israel, Netanyahu affirmed that the only solution to eliminating the Iranian threat is toppling the rule in Tehran, noting that Iran wanted to destroy Israel and build nuclear bombs and that Israel stopped it, and that he gave directives to the IDF, Mossad and the other security services on this matter.
10. 21 Oct 2026, 19:11 The Financial Times reported that US President Donald Trump opposed Netanyahu's plans to resume wide-scale military strikes on Iran before the 3 November midterm elections, and that Netanyahu had earlier in the month issued directives to the army to draw up plans to resume the strikes.
11. 21 Oct 2026, 20:04 Iranian officials spoke of military capabilities not yet used and referred to what they called the "grandmother of bombs", while Netanyahu said he directed the army and Mossad to work on toppling the Iranian regime. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to expand strikes and annex areas in Lebanon and Gaza into what he calls security zones.
12. 21 Oct 2026, 21:45 In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu said Iran is trying to develop lethal bombs and wants to return to its nuclear project deep underground, arguing that the threat can only be removed by toppling the Iranian regime. He claimed Iran had planned to possess 20,000 ballistic missiles and still has more than 1,000 missiles, and warned of Iranian and proxy attempts to influence the Israeli elections.
13. 22 Oct 2026, 00:07 Netanyahu said Israel's goal is toppling the Iranian leadership, in remarks carried by Al-Hadath and Al-Arabiya without further details.
14. 22 Oct 2026, 11:01 The Israeli Walla website quoted a security official as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz are determined to topple the Iranian regime.

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