Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicks off his Likud party’s election campaign with a speech focussed on security concerns, AFP reports.

Netanyahu has come under fire for his government’s failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the deadliest in the country’s history, but he insists that he and his party “are the only ones who can guarantee Israel’s security”.

He went on to list Israeli military operations that have taken place in Iran, Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip since 2023. “The mission must be completed, we must bring down the Iranian regime and totally destroy Hezbollah and Hamas,” he says.

He also accuses his rivals of wanting to make “territorial concessions”, and pointed to Israeli troops in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza as evidence that “we take land instead of giving it”.

The premier repeats his refrain that he “has changed the face of the Middle East”, vowing to change it yet again, without offering specifics.