It’s a claim you hear thrown casually about by both Israeli political opponents and global detractors as though it were an indisputable fact: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is purposely dragging out the Gaza war to protect his own legacy. Others say he’s doing simply because the Israeli leader is bloodthirsty.

In remarks to Israel’s Channel 13 on Sunday, Netanyahu slammed such assertions, noting that this is a regional war against numerous foes, and anyone who believes it could be successfully executed in a shorter timespan is delusional.

“We did not need to only defeat Hamas, but needed to defeat the entire Iranian axis, including in a war against Iran itself,” stressed the Israeli leader.

And even if it was just Gaza, Bibi explained that fighting there is far more complex and difficult than the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004, later described by US Marine officials as the most challenging urban combat since the Vietnam War.

“The whole world converged on 3,000 terrorists in a place that’s much less complicated than Gaza… and we’re doing it much faster than all these armies together,” said Netanyahu.

Nor did the Americans and British who fought Fallujah have to deal with an enemy holding their citizens hostage. “When there are hostages, you’re careful, you call ceasefires,” he noted, pointing to the several ceasefires that have so far punctuated the Gaza war. On top of that, “you have an American administration that, after a few weeks of unwavering support, not only began to express reservations but also started blocking us.” The Biden administration imposed a partial military blockade on Israel by delaying the delivery of crucial ammunition.

Despite these incredible difficulties, Netanyahu argued that Israel has had major strategic achievements no one could have anticipated prior to the war.

“We eliminated the cells of the Iranian axis one-by-one. First, we went after Hamas, we had to enter Rafah, take control of the Philadelphi Corridor, then head north [to Lebanon], conduct the beeper operation, eliminate Hezbollah, and advance. As a result, the Assad regime fell. All of these stages essentially dismantled the Iranian axis as they had prepared it for Israel’s destruction,” Netanyahu explained.

Indeed, it was no secret that Iran had built up a “ring of fire” around Israel with proxies across the Middle East, armed and prepared for one purpose: the destruction of the Jewish state. And at its center, Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which Israel also took head-on and removed as an immediate existential threat.

“I said on the second day of this war: we will change the face of the Middle East,” and that takes however long it takes, stressed Netanyahu. “We are not fighting only against Hamas but against the entire Iranian axis, of which Hamas is only one part of.”

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