Netanyahu on Syria visit says 'very close' to toppling Iran's Islamic republic

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to Israeli troops in southern Syria on Wednesday that Iran's Islamic republic was on the verge of collapse. Fighting in the six-month Middle East war continues to intensify.

What did Netanyahu say about toppling Iran's government?

Netanyahu said the main task ahead was bringing down Iran's "terror regime" and that Israel was very close to achieving it. He made the remarks on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, on the Israel-Syria border, during a visit with Defense Minister Israel Katz. He added that the entire regional axis aligned with Iran would ultimately collapse.

Israeli forces have been stationed in a "security zone" in southern Syria since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. They occupy territory that was previously a buffer zone patrolled by the United Nations, separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan since 1974.

Why has Israel deployed troops in southern Syria?

Netanyahu reiterated on Wednesday that Israel would not allow any terrorist army to establish itself on its border. Katz visited Israeli troops in southern Syria two weeks earlier, a move that drew condemnation from Damascus, which called it a flagrant violation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since Assad's fall and made repeated incursions into Syrian territory. Officials have also repeatedly vowed to keep troops in the security zone, where Israel is seeking a broader demilitarized area.

Netanyahu's remarks on Iran come as Tehran and Washington remain locked in a stalemate over the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Both sides have traded attacks over the past week, six months into the war the US and Israel launched against the Islamic Republic at the end of February.