Netanyahu urged Israelis to "stand shoulder to shoulder” as regional tensions intensify during the week of the Jewish holiday Purim.

"We are in complicated days, and we are prepared for every scenario,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement. "I conveyed a clear message to the Iranian regime: If they make the grave mistake of attacking the State of Israel, we will respond with a force they cannot even imagine.”

His remarks followed reporting by the Times of Israel, which confirmed that U.S. aerial refueling aircraft were observed Monday at Ben Gurion Airport—a movement Israeli officials described privately as part of a broader American operational posture intended to deter escalation.

According to recent disclosures from the U.S. Department of Defense and independent defense analysts, Washington has deployed roughly 40,000 personnel across the region in recent weeks, alongside an unusually concentrated naval presence. Two U.S. aircraft carriers—the nuclear-powered USS Abraham Lincoln and the advanced USS Gerald R. Ford—are operating or en route to operational theaters near the Arabian Sea and the Mediterranean.

Each carrier strike group brings a mix of F/A-18 Super Hornets, F-35C stealth fighters, EA-18G electronic-warfare aircraft, and E-2D airborne early-warning platforms, creating what U.S. analysts describe as "sustained, high-intensity strike capacity” capable of penetrating and degrading Iranian air defenses if ordered.

Senior U.S. officials, speaking on background due to diplomatic sensitivity, say the buildup aims to "provide decision-making space” as negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program remain stalled. The New York Times reported Monday that Iran continues to reject U.S. demands to halt high-level uranium enrichment and curb its missile program.

For now, Israeli officials insist the message is deterrence, not inevitability. "This is not the time for internal disputes,” Netanyahu said. "Our strength is in our unity.”