The US Secretary of Defense confirms his visit to Israel and holding a conversation with Netanyahu

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Defense Minister Pete Hegseth confirmed on Tuesday that he had visited US forces in Israel, indicating that he would not reveal the details of a private conversation he had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hegseth told reporters, "I was there to visit our forces, and I had the opportunity to speak to the prime minister... Of course, I will not address the nature of our conversation, but they were good partners, and I appreciate that."

The American news site Axios linked Hegseth's surprise visit to Israel to speculation about the possibility of renewed escalation in the conflict with Iran.

In this regard, Netanyahu insisted that he remains committed to overthrowing the Iranian leadership, according to a statement issued by his office on Tuesday evening. “We are committed to completing the elimination of the Iranian regime,” he said, adding that this is the most important issue for Israel.

He added that he spoke again with US President Donald Trump about this issue only on Sunday.

Netanyahu said that as long as the Iranian leadership exists, it will try to produce nuclear weapons: “And the only way to prevent that is to overthrow this regime.”