Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was not surprised at the last minute by US President Donald Trump's ceasefire with Iran during a Wednesday press conference.
"The temporary ceasefire came in coordination with Israel; the Americans did not surprise us at the last minute," said Netanyahu.
Netanyahu noted that Israel still has more goals to achieve, including the issue of Iran's enriched uranium, which the Prime Minister stated would either be accomplished through diplomacy or through force.
"This is not the end of the war," said Netanyahu, "but a stop on the way to achieving all the goals."
Netanyahu discussed the necessity of both Operation Rising Lion and Operation Roaring Lion, stating that if either had not occured, "Iran would have had a nuclear weapon a long time ago."
"Iran would have had many thousands of missiles with which to threaten Israel," said Netanyahu, adding that Israel had "set back the Iranian regime by many years."
"We didn't just destroy Iran's missiles," continued Netanyahu, "we destroyed their ability to manufacture missiles. The Iranians are firing what they have left in stock. We have severely damaged the nuclear program, we have destroyed centrifuge plants and eliminated more nuclear scientists."
'You guys are great': Netanyahu says Trump spoke highly of Israel
Netanyahu also spoke of strong relations with President Trump, noting in English that Trump spoke highly of Israel, describing the President as saying, "You guys are great."
"I can reassure you, Trump and I talk every day, and we smile at each other when we hear the assessments that our relations are not good," said Netanyahu. "President Trump, my friend Donald, I want to thank you for the deep friendship and deep friendship."
Netanyahu then turned to the war in Lebanon, mentioning Wednesday's large-scale IDF strikes against Hezbollah.
"I insisted that the ceasefire would not include Hezbollah and we continue to strike them," said Netanyahu. "We struck 100 targets in 10 minutes, in locations where Hezbollah was confident they were safe."
Speaking directly to the residents of northern Israel, Netanyahu stated that he and the government are "required" to return security to their area.