Netanyahu hints he would hit Iranian oil fields if Tehran attacks

Netanyahu urged Iranians to imagine their free lives without 'the tyrants of Tehran' in an unusual English message.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF NOVEMBER 12, 2024 19:11 Updated: NOVEMBER 12, 2024 20:02

(Illustrative) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the backdrop of an Iranian oil field. (photo credit: Canva, MARC ISRAEL SELLEM, RAHEB HOMAVANDI/REUTERS)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that the IDF would hit Iranian oil fields should the Islamic Republic launch another ballistic missile attack on Israel.

“Another attack on Israel would simply cripple Iran's economy,” Netanyahu said in an unusual English language message he directed at the Iranian people.

His words, however, were also a sharply worded warning to the Islamic Republic, which is weighing a counterattack against Israel.

The Biden administration had warned Israel prior to its October attack on Iran not to escalate the situation by hitting Iranian oil fields or its nuclear faculties.

It believed that President-elect Donald Trump would not oppose such a step. Netanyahu has already spoken three times with Trump since the incoming Republican president was elected last Tuesday.

A special message from me to the Iranian people: there’s one thing Khamenei’s regime fears more than Israel. It’s you — the people of Iran. Don’t lose hope.پیام ویژه‌ای از من برای مردم ایران: یک چیز هست که رژیم خامنه‌ای بیش از اسرائیل از آن می‌ترسد. آن شما هستید — مردم ایران.… pic.twitter.com/iADxSjNXCs

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 12, 2024

'I know you don't want this war'

“We see eye-to-eye on Iran,” Netanyahu said earlier this week in describing the conversations.

On Tuesday, he said that an Iranian attack on Israel “would rob you of many more billions of dollars.” The kind of economic devastation he described would be akin to what could happen if Israel did not target the Iranian oil fields.

Netanyahu issued his statement just as Israeli President Isaac Herzog was set to meet with US President Joe Biden at the White House in what will be his third such visit since 2022. Biden has hosted Netanyahu only once.

Herzog’s visit comes amid a transition of power in both Washington and Jerusalem, with Trump set to re-enter the White House in January and Israel Katz, replacing Yoav Gallant as Defense Minster. Gideon Sa’ar has stepped into Katz’s former role as Foreign Minister. 

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In an appeal to the Iranian people to work together with Israel for a better regional future, Netanyahu said, “I know that you don’t want this war. I don’t want this war either. The people of Israel don’t want this war. There is one force putting your family in grave danger: the tyrants of Tehran. That’s it."

The Islamic Republic’s last attack on Israel, he said, cost the country “$2.3 billion,” he said, adding “I’m not guessing.”

“The missiles did marginal damage to Israel, but what damage did they do to you? That sum could have added billions to your transportation budget. It could have added billions to your education budget,” he said.

He asked Iranians to close their eyes and imagine a future where they could speak their mind without fear.

“Imagine how your children’s lives would look if billions of dollars were invested in them instead of being wasted on wars that can’t be won,” he said.

Israel can help Iran build a future with world-class education, advanced roads, hospitals, and clean water, Netanyahu said.

“Israel has the world’s most advanced desalination system and we'd be happy to help rebuild Iran’s collapsing water infrastructure. These and so many other things are the things that you could have,” Netanyahu said.

He reminded the Iranian people that their own government feared them more than it feared the Jewish state.

“That’s why they spend so much time and money trying to crush your hopes and curb your dreams.,” he said.

"Well, I say to you this: don’t let your dreams die. I hear the whispers: Women, Life, Freedom."

"Don't lose hope. And know that Israel and others in the free world stand with you."