Israel's attack on Iran marks moment of truth for Netanyahu

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Israel's attack on Iran marks moment of truth for Netanyahu

2025-06-15 03:39 Last Updated At：04:02

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on the mission of his lifetime.

For years, the veteran leader has made the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program his top priority, raising the issue in speech after speech in apocalyptic terms. Now Netanyahu’s moment of truth has arrived.

After battling Iran’s allies across the region following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Netanyahu has turned his attention to what he describes as the “head of the octopus,” with an unprecedented and open-ended military offensive against Iran and its nuclear program.

It is an aggressive gamble made possible by a confluence of factors, including the weakening of Iranian-backed militant groups in Gaza and Lebanon, and the reelection and support of U.S. President Donald Trump.

But success is not guaranteed, and the outcome of the escalating conflict could determine the fate of Netanyahu’s government and shape his legacy.

Here’s a closer look:

Netanyahu began warning about the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran in the 1990s — even before his first term as prime minister at the end of the decade. He returned to office in 2009 and has served as prime minister almost continuously since then, rarely missing an opportunity to portray the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to Israel’s existence and menace to the world.

In 2012, he famously displayed a crude cartoon illustrating what he said was Iran’s march toward the bomb during a speech to the U.N. assembly.

Three years later, he delivered a controversial speech to the U.S. Congress arguing against then-President Barack Obama’s emerging nuclear deal with Iran. The speech infuriated the White House and failed to block the deal. But it delighted Republicans and laid the groundwork for Trump to pull out of the agreement three years later.

Netanyahu has frequently compared Iran’s theocratic leadership to the Nazis, at times drawing the ire of Holocaust scholars and survivor groups. He turned to that familiar playbook this week as he announced the latest attacks on Iran.

“Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were the victims of a Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime,” he said. “Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear Holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime.”

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. But its enrichment of uranium to near-weapons grade levels and failure to cooperate with international inspectors have raised doubts about those claims.

The head of the U.N. nuclear agency has warned that Iran has enough enriched uranium to make several bombs. The agency censured Iran this week for failing to comply with nonproliferation obligations, one day before the Israeli strikes began.

Netanyahu for years has threatened to strike Iran, repeatedly saying that all options were “on the table.”

But never before has he pulled the trigger due to opposition by domestic rivals and security chiefs, questions about the feasibility of such a risky operation and the opposition of a string of U.S. presidents.

But things have changed over the past two years, and Netanyahu now believes he has a chance to shape the region in his own image.

Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, Israel has systematically degraded a network of Iranian allies across the region.

The war in Gaza has decimated the Palestinian militant group Hamas, but at a devastating price for the territory’s civilian population. Last year, Israel also inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, severely weakening the group and contributing to the downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, another key Iranian ally. And during a brief round of fighting with Iran last year, Israel knocked out much of its enemies’ air-defense systems.

With Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” in tatters and Iran unable to defend itself against Israel’s air force, there was little to deter Israel from taking action this week.

Trump provided the final piece of the puzzle. After surprising Israel earlier this year with his resumption of nuclear talks with Iran, Trump grew frustrated with the lack of progress in those talks.

Notified about the Israeli plans, the U.S. president appears to have put up little resistance, creating a rare window of opportunity for Israel.

It is too early to say.

The Israeli operation appears to have gotten off to a smooth start – with Israel striking dozens of targets and killing senior Iranian military figures. But it remains unclear how much damage Israel has inflicted on Iran’s nuclear program.

For now, the divisive and embattled Netanyahu appears to be riding a wave of support at home. Even the political opposition, which tried to topple Netanyahu in a parliamentary vote earlier in the week, has come out in support of the Iran operation.

But things could change quickly. After an initial wave of support for Israel’s war against Hamas, the country is now deeply divided. With the fighting now over 20 months old, many believe Netanyahu has unnecessarily dragged out the conflict in a self-serving campaign to remain in office.

Likewise, public support for the Iranian operation could quickly turn if Iran’s missile attacks on Israel cause heavy casualties or continue to disrupt life in Israel for an extended period. A debacle on the battlefield – such as the capture of an Israeli fighter pilot by Iran – could also reverse Netanyahu’s fortunes. Netanyahu’s hints that he is seeking regime change in Iran — a difficult and complicated task — could further hurt his standing.

After a record-setting tenure in office, Netanyahu has a complicated legacy. He is the object of affection and adoration among his supporters who see him as a wily politician and distinguished statesman. But he is intensely disdained by his many detractors, who see him as a divisive and populist cynic.

Few on either side would disagree that his legacy has been permanently tarnished by the Oct. 7 attacks, the deadliest day in Israel’s history.

Netanyahu now sees an opportunity to reshape that legacy once again and go down in history as the man who saved his country from nuclear annihilation, not the prime minister who presided over its darkest moment.

Police search Brown University after shooter kills 2 and wounds 8 on campus

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A shooter dressed in black killed at least two people and wounded eight others at Brown University on Saturday during final exams on the Ivy League campus, authorities said, and police were searching for the suspect.

Officers scattered across the campus and into an affluent neighborhood filled with historic and stately brick homes, searching academic buildings, backyards and porches for hours after the shooting erupted.

The suspect was a male in dark clothing who was last seen leaving the engineering building where the attack happened, said Timothy O’Hara, Deputy Chief of Police.

Authorities believe the shooter used a handgun, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rhode Island has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S. Last spring the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed an assault weapon ban that will prohibit the sale and manufacturing of certain high-powered firearms, but not their possession, starting next July.

“The unthinkable has happened,” Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said a shelter-in-place was in effect and encouraged people living near the campus to stay inside and not to return home until it is lifted.

“We have all available resources” to find the suspect, Smiley said.

Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, was in the engineering building’s lobby working on a final project when she heard loud pops coming from the east side.

Once she realized they were gunshots, she darted for the door and ran to a nearby building where she was waited for a couple of hours.

Eight people with gunshot wounds were taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where six were in critical but stable condition, according to Kelly Brennan, a spokesperson for the hospital. Another was in critical condition and one was stable, she said.

University officials initially told students and staff that a suspect was in custody, before later saying that was not the case. The mayor said a person preliminarily thought to be involved was detained but was later determined to have no involvement.

Nearly five hours after the shooting, officers in tactical gear led students out of some campus buildings and into a fitness center.

The shooting occurred in the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and physics department. According to the university’s website, the building includes more than 100 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and offices.

Engineering design exams were underway there when the shooting occurred.

Brown senior biochemistry student Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm directly across the street from the building when he heard sirens outside and received a text about an active shooter shortly after 4 p.m.

“I’m just in here shaking,” he said, watching through the window as a half-dozen armed officers in tactical gear surrounded his dorm. He said he feared for a friend who he thought was inside the engineering building at the time.

Students in a nearby lab hid under desks and turned off the lights after receiving an alert about the shooting, said Chiangheng Chien, a doctoral student in engineering who was about a block away from the scene.

Mari Camara, 20, a junior from New York City, was coming out of the library and rushed inside a taqueria to seek shelter. She spent more than three hours there, texting friends while police searched the campus.

“Everyone is the same as me, shocked and terrified that something like this happened,” she said.

President Donald Trump told reporters that he had been briefed on the shooting and “all we can do right now is pray for the victims.”

“It’s a shame,” he said in brief remarks at the White House.

The FBI said it was assisting in the response.

Brown, the seventh oldest higher education institution in the U.S., is one of the nation's most prestigious colleges, with roughly 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students. Tuition, housing and other fees run to nearly $100,000 per year, according to the university.

Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Mike Balsamo and Seung Min Kim in Washington; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota; Martha Bellisle in Seattle; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.