Bennett was outspoken in his criticism of his predecessors, particularly Netanyahu. “We inherited an unacceptable legacy,” he said. “Two months before I took office, Iran started enriching uranium to the 60% level and no one did a thing about it. Iran is the closest it has ever been to nuclear capability. Zoom out for a minute: You have a long-standing war between two regional powers that is being fought by one side only. They hit out at us, and we do not hit out at them. They have enveloped Israel with octopus tentacles and instead of striking the head of the octopus, we are quarrelling with its arms.”

The prime minister, who fought as an officer in an elite army unit deep inside Lebanon during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, said, “We have been playing into the hands of the Iranians for years. When I fought in Lebanon, I was fighting against Iran’s [Hezbollah] proxies, while the ayatollahs funding and arming them were untouchable. When I took over as prime minister, I reassessed the situation on a clean slate. Iran will no longer be immune. The Iranian regime is rotten, corrupt, unable to supply its citizens with basic needs, the economy is collapsing, entire regions are without running water. So, my new perception is that Israel must enter the arena and work to further weaken the head of the octopus.”