Foreign Minister Gideon Saar Says Fighting Will Continue Until “Appropriate” to Stop, as Germany Pushes for Diplomatic Path.
Not endless — but not over. Israel says the war will stop when its goals are met.
Israel is not seeking an open-ended war with Iran and will coordinate closely with the United States on when to end the conflict, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Tuesday, as the war entered its 11th day.
Speaking in Jerusalem alongside German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Saar declined to provide a timeline for when hostilities might cease.
“We will continue until the minute that we and our partners think that is appropriate to stop,” he said. “We are not looking for an endless war.”
The U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran has widened into a regional confrontation, with Iranian missile and drone strikes reaching neighboring Gulf states and Israel continuing operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Saar said Israel’s objective is to eliminate what he called “existential threats” posed by Iran, including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. He described Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei — son of slain leader Ali Khamenei — as an extremist.
“We want to remove, for the long-term, existential threats from Iran to Israel,” Saar said when asked what victory would look like.
Israeli officials have indicated that beyond degrading military capabilities, they hope to create conditions that could enable internal political change in Iran. Saar acknowledged that such change might not occur during the war itself.
In Berlin earlier Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced concern about the trajectory of the conflict and the apparent absence of a clear endgame.
Wadephul said he believed Israel and Washington remain open to diplomacy, but any settlement would require Iranian commitments on nuclear enrichment, missile development and support for regional militias — concessions Tehran has so far rejected.
As fighting intensifies across multiple fronts, Israel’s message is calibrated: the war will not be endless — but it will not end until strategic objectives are met.
