JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar held an extensive online briefing a short while ago with Israel’s ambassadors stationed around the world. During the briefing, the minister addressed the diplomatic and security situation and provided the ambassadors with working guidelines in the fields of policy and Israeli public diplomacy on the international stage.

At the beginning of his remarks, Minister Sa’ar defined the objectives of the current campaign: “The goal of the war is to remove the existential threats facing the State of Israel in the long term. As long as the current regime exists in Iran, this objective cannot be achieved.”

According to him, the regime in Tehran has not changed its plans despite the blows it has sustained: “The murderous regime in Iran is still committed to the destruction of the State of Israel and has not changed anything in its strategy, not in its intentions to obtain nuclear weapons, not in its plans to produce large quantities of long-range ballistic missiles, and not in its strategy of using terrorist proxies around the State of Israel.”

Sa’ar revealed data regarding continued Iranian funding of terror proxies in the region:
“Hezbollah, just since the ceasefire, has received over one billion dollars. Hamas received more money over the past year than it did before the war. The regime’s overarching objective remains the destruction of the State of Israel.”

The foreign minister explained that Iran has been working to move its nuclear and missile production projects deep underground: “They tried to reach a zone of immunity where neither we nor the Americans could strike from the air. Together with the protest movement that was brutally suppressed, this led us to the conclusion that action must be taken, and that the time to act is now.”

In conclusion, the foreign minister emphasized that the decision regarding the recent moves was made in full and complete coordination among all relevant levels:
“This is a decision that was unanimously adopted by the security cabinet, on the recommendation of all of Israel’s security agencies — the Mossad, the Shin Bet, the National Security Council, and the IDF — without exception.”