Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday warned Iran’s leadership that any attack on Israel would see it incur blows the likes of which “it has not yet suffered to this day,” including on key energy facilities.
“In accordance with the prime minister’s instructions and my own, the Israel Defense Forces is on alert and ready to carry out the mission,” Katz said in a statement ahead of Rosh Hashanah.
The defense minister said he issued the warning because economic pressure on Tehran could push the regime to act against Israel. “Any attack on Israel, for any reason and anywhere, will be met with a powerful response,” he stated.
“Such a blow will set Iran back decades and further destabilize the ayatollah regime, which the Iranian people so deeply despise and long to see fall,” the Israeli defense minister said.
Katz also sent holiday greetings to Iran’s Jewish community, saying, “Next year in a Tehran liberated from oppression and tyranny.
“And to the Jewish people in Israel and around the world, I wish a happy New Year,” he concluded. “May our enemies, those who hate us and all who seek our harm be removed.”
Speaking at a Rosh Hashanah toast at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Sept. 3, Katz said that an Iranian attack on the Jewish state would remove “every existing constraint” on an Israeli response, including strikes on Tehran’s civilian and energy infrastructure.
Katz said Israel would, if attacked, hit Iran’s “national, military and civilian infrastructure,” and send the Islamic Republic “back deep into the Stone Age and darkness.
“The ayatollah regime in Iran knows very well why it is not attacking Israel: After we struck them powerfully twice [in June 2025 and February 2026], dealt a blow to the nuclear program, eliminated [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei, and severely damaged their strategic capabilities,” Katz said.
He said Israel had identified indications that severe economic pressure and concern over internal unrest and a possible collapse of the regime could drive Iran toward “desperate steps.”
“Israel is very well prepared, defensively and offensively, for every possibility, and the IDF is ready to carry out the mission,” Katz said.
Israel is capable of toppling the Iranian regime, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the same event on Sept. 3, describing the goal as “within reach.”
“I am convinced of our ability to remove this threat once and for all; meaning, to topple this regime,” Netanyahu said. “This is the central mission still before us, but it is close. It is not impossible. It is within reach.”
The prime minister said that Israel had achieved historic gains during three years of war, including in its operations against Iran.
“We faced the threat of annihilation by a regime that aspires to eradicate us and wants to arm itself with nuclear bombs to destroy us. We have pushed back this threat and other threats as well,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu noted that while Iran continues to attack other countries, it has refrained from attacking Israel.
“They are not just failing to attack us. They attack everyone, except us. They know our power, the force of our arm and our determination,” he said. “This regime is currently faltering. It is weaker than ever before. It is fighting for its life.”
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said in an interview aired on Aug. 31 that although Iran has been defeated, “there’s just a little bit of a time lapse until it actually collapses.”
Leiter said U.S. President Donald Trump “has led an incredible effort to bring this regime down; I think it’s going to happen soon.”
The ambassador likened Iran’s situation to that of the Soviet Union in the ’80s. While nobody could predict the exact date of its fall, U.S. President Ronald Reagan “saw it coming,” said Leiter. “He knew that it was the end of that evil empire. It was just a matter of time.”
