Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “the current focus of aggression in the Middle East is the Iranian regime in Tehran. Iran is striving to tighten its grip in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Gaza Strip”. “It is relentlessly arming itself”, Netanyahu continued. “It is equipping its proxies with dangerous weaponry. It is attacking freedom of navigation in international shipping lanes. It downed a large American UAV. It mounted a crude and unprecedented attack on Saudi oil fields. It has repeatedly crossed its threshold of brazenness… it has tried to attack us repeatedly; therefore, we must stand ready to defend ourselves against danger”. He further asserted that the Israeli military “is prepared to pre-empt any threat, defensively and offensively, with crushing strength, in weaponry and in spirit”.