In a meeting with visiting US President Joe Biden on Thursday, former Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the necessity of a military option against Iran.

Netanyahu, who is now head of the opposition, told Biden that "if and when" he returns to office, his hard stance on Iran will remain the same, claiming that “Biden said he agrees with my position and I was glad to hear that. This is what I will do if and when I return to the Prime Minister's Office."

Discussing the Iranian nuclear issue, Bibi said, "Without a reliable military option, it will be impossible to stop Iran, and if it is not deterred, the military option must be exercised."

Netanyahu added that to ensure US-Israeli friendship for the next 40 years “we have to address the Iranian threat,” noting that "Economic sanctions and even a defensive pact are not enough, there is a need for a military-offensive option on Iran, without it, nothing will work."

Earlier in the day, Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a declaration on a shared commitment to Israel’s military supremacy and preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons.

Washington pledged further “defense assistance” on top of the $38 billion 10-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016 under President Barack Obama and the $1-billion assistance after the 2021 Israeli-Palestinian violence centered on Gaza.

The document – dubbed the ‘Jerusalem Declaration’ – singled out as integral “to this pledge…the commitment never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.” The US was, it said, “prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure that outcome.”