Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “cannot continue to exist,” marking one of the strongest threats from an Israeli official against the Iranian leader.
“Dictator Khamenei is a modern-day Hitler who has carved out on his banner the destruction of the State of Israel and is enslaving all of his country’s resources to advance this terrible goal,” Katz wrote on X. “He cannot continue to exist.”
In other comments, Katz said Khamenei should no longer “exist” because he “personally gives the order to fire on hospitals.” The comments came after an Iranian missile strike damaged the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, southern Israel, an attack Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed targeted a military site near the hospital.
Katz’s comments about the hospital attack drew criticism since Israel has waged a war against medical infrastructure in Gaza, damaging or destroying 94% of all hospitals in the Palestinian territory. The Iranian missile strike also came two days after an Israeli attack damaged a hospital in Iran.
Despite the hypocrisy, Katz accused Iran of “war crimes” over the missile strike that hit the hospital and vowed Israel would increase its attacks on Iran. “The prime minister and I instructed the IDF to increase the intensity of the attacks against strategic targets in Iran and against government targets in Tehran in order to remove the threats against the State of Israel and undermine the regime of the ayatollahs,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously made clear that he seeks regime change in Iran, claiming in an interview that killing Khamenei would “end” the conflict.
President Trump has also threatened the Iranian leader, saying the US was aware of his location. “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” the US leader said on Tuesday.
