Netanyahu: Iran war 'beyond the halfway point' in missions — floats Gulf-to-Mediterranean pipeline plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Newsmax interview that the Iran war had achieved its objectives 'beyond the halfway point' — in terms of missions completed, not necessarily in terms of time. 'It's definitely beyond the halfway point. But I don't want to put a schedule on it,' Netanyahu said. He declined to confirm or deny plans to send US troops to take Kharg Island, saying the US was leading military solutions for opening the Strait of Hormuz but he could not go into details. Most significantly, Netanyahu articulated a long-term post-war economic vision: diverting Gulf oil and gas pipelines across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea and then northward to Israeli Mediterranean ports, bypassing Iran's geographic chokepoint. 'Divert all the energy pipelines, oil and gas, from the Gulf where the Iranians have a geographic chokepoint to across Saudi Arabia, to the Red Sea… and up there to the Mediterranean port — our ports in Israel,' he said. The proposal, if realized, would represent a fundamental reshaping of regional energy infrastructure and Israel's post-war strategic position.