Netanyahu Says U.S.–Israel Coordination Is Unprecedented, Backs U.S. Naval Blockade on Iran

Netanyahu (Photo: Itay Beit-On, GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the ongoing fighting in the north, the collapse of negotiations between the United States and Iran, and Israel’s position on American actions at today’s (Monday) cabinet meeting.

According to Netanyahu, "The fighting continues all the time. It has not stopped. Yesterday and again today it focused on Bint Jbeil." He described the IDF’s operations in southern Lebanon and emphasized the effort to push the threat away from the border and establish a deeper security buffer: "We are not talking about five points; we are talking about a solid, deeper security zone that both prevents the danger of invasion and pushes back the anti-tank threat." He added that "They are also dealing with the terror-supporting villages that were right up against us; every terror position there, and there are many, has simply been flattened."

Netanyahu revealed that he spoke with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who updated him on developments surrounding the negotiations with Iran. In his words, "The talks blew up. The explosion came from the American side, which could not tolerate Iran’s blatant violation of the agreement to enter negotiations. The understanding was that the fire would stop, and the Iranians would immediately open the straits. They didn’t do it. The Americans could not accept that."

He further stressed that "The central issue on the table for President Trump and the United States is removing all the enriched material, and ensuring there is no more enrichment in the coming years—and it could be for decades—no enrichment inside Iran."

Later, the prime minister expressed support for the American move to impose a naval blockade on Iran: "Because Iran violated the rules, President Trump decided to place a naval blockade on them. We, of course, support this firm stance, and we are coordinated with the United States at all times." Netanyahu emphasized that there is no rift between the countries: "The talk as if there is a disconnect between us is the exact opposite. Anyone who was around that call, and around the daily conversations we hold with the President and his people, his team, can attest to it. This is coordination that did not exist—there is something here that did not exist. It has not existed in the history of the state, nor in the history of the Jewish people: we have coordination with the most powerful nation in the world, and we have the ability to repel threats of annihilation."

Netanyahu said he met with Holocaust survivors who will light torches: "During the Holocaust we were, as the poet Uri Zvi Greenberg said, 'like a hunted animal'; we couldn’t do anything. They hunted us, slaughtered us; few survived. Today the tables have turned: we are the ones who hunt our enemies. Those who came to destroy us—they are now fighting for their survival."

He added that the State of Israel is "at the height of its power," and warned: "Had we not acted—had we not taken our fate into our own hands in an independent State of Israel, with the Israel Defense Forces and our security arms—the names Isfahan, Natanz, Fordow, and Bushehr would be remembered like Auschwitz, Majdanek, and Sobibor." He concluded: "In every generation they rise up; in this generation, we have risen against them. There will not be another Holocaust."