Netanyahu: "I Will Build a Broad National Government"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference this evening (Saturday night) and addressed the upcoming elections, as well as the framework agreement with the Lebanese government.

For the first time, Netanyahu emphasized that his goal is to establish a broad national government that will operate on the basis of agreements, rather than within the framework of a narrow government. "I think there are forces among us that want to bring about a rift within the nation. They want to worsen and deepen misunderstandings and disagreements, and I think that is a terrible mistake. We need to make every effort to resolve the problems among us through agreement."

"We have enemies on the outside, and I say: there will not be a civil war here. I intend to establish a broad national government, not a narrow government. Not a left-wing government that would be dependent on the Arab parties, but a broad national government, because only that way, I believe, can we reach agreements among ourselves. That means an end to boycotts, and I am not boycotting anyone. Everyone can join; they simply need to agree to the basic principles."

Regarding the framework agreement with Lebanon, Netanyahu added: "Yesterday, before the start of *Shabbat*, we achieved a historic accomplishment for the State of Israel. After direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, with U.S. mediation, we reached a framework of understandings that allows us to move toward ending the conflict and, with Hashem's help, perhaps also eventually reaching a peace agreement between the two countries."

"As part of these understandings, the U.S. and Lebanon recognized Israel's right to maintain the security zone inside Lebanon for as long as it is required for our security. We will continue to hold it until Hezbollah and the other terrorist organizations are disarmed, until there is no longer any threat to Israel from Lebanon."

"This is a major blow to Iran and Hezbollah, to Iran, which tried to force us into a withdrawal from southern Lebanon. You heard those demands all the time, and you also heard their disappointment, their criticism of the agreement, theirs and Hezbollah's. I stood firm on our vital interests and opposed this idea that they would force a withdrawal on us by fiat."

"This is a tremendous achievement, because what were they trying to do? They were trying to get us out of there, through all kinds of means, through all kinds of pressure. That, of course, will not happen. I thank President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio for their involvement, their contribution, and for helping secure these understandings. I thank the Lebanese government and the people of Lebanon; they showed great courage. I thank Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, and our team; they represented Israel faithfully in the talks. We are breaking the Iranian terror axis, but we are also breaking the Iranian diplomatic axis."

In conclusion, Netanyahu said: "We were able to reach this framework of understandings for a simple reason: because we struck Hezbollah hard. And Hezbollah, which expected assistance from Iran, did not receive it, because we struck Iran hard, and we did all this thanks to the bravery of our fighters, and also thanks to the thoughtful and courageous decisions we made. I want to remind you what there was in Lebanon: Hezbollah had 150,000 missiles and rockets, and we eliminated about 90 percent of that enormous stockpile. We stunned them with the pagers, eliminated Nasrallah, eliminated the commanders of the Radwan Force. In just the past two weeks, we eliminated more than 200 terrorists, and since the start of the war, more than 9,000 Hezbollah terrorists!"

"We took control of Beaufort, and we are staying in Beaufort; we took control of the Ali Taher ridge, of Bint Jbeil; they are under our control. We are destroying their terrorist infrastructure throughout the entire area, throughout this whole yellow zone; we are simply destroying the terrorist infrastructure. There are bunkers there, there are tunnels there, there are terror villages there; we are destroying everything. We have not finished yet, we still have more work to do, especially against the global problem of explosive drones, and in that as well, we will be the first in the world to bring a solution."

"But one thing is clear: this is a historic achievement. This agreement strengthens Israel and Lebanon, and weakens Iran and Hezbollah. And with Hashem's help, it is a sign of what is to come. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to restore security to the residents of the north, just as we successfully did in the south. We did it again thanks to the bravery of the fighters and commanders, and also thanks to your steadfastness, residents of the north, and we are bringing you not only security assistance, but also more than 20 billion shekels to restore prosperity in the north. What happened in the south, which is now thriving, in the Gaza border communities, will happen in the north as well. That is my goal, and with their help and with Hashem's help, we will achieve it."