Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved to reassure the public on Friday, asserting that Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium and build ballistic missiles had been effectively eliminated after three weeks of warfare. He dismissed as false the narrative that Israel had dragged the United States into the war. Netanyahu struck an optimistic note throughout his press conference, suggesting the conflict was closer to resolution than most people understood.
The prime minister addressed the nature of the US-Israel partnership with clarity. He described it as the most tightly coordinated alliance between two leaders he could recall and positioned Trump as the dominant partner. Netanyahu said Trump’s understanding of the Iranian nuclear threat was independent and sophisticated, noting that Trump had actually briefed him on certain aspects of the danger rather than receiving a one-sided Israeli presentation.
Netanyahu confirmed Israel struck the South Pars gas complex alone and acknowledged Trump’s request to hold off on further strikes at Iran’s gas infrastructure. He framed both the military action and the diplomatic communication as consistent with a well-functioning alliance. Israel’s operational independence, he insisted, was not subject to external restrictions.
On the Hormuz question, Netanyahu called Iran’s closure threats blackmail that would fail. He proposed pipeline corridors from the Arabian Peninsula to Israeli and Mediterranean ports as a structural solution. Netanyahu argued this infrastructure would permanently reduce the world’s vulnerability to Iran’s maritime pressure tactics.
Netanyahu ended with an assessment of Iran’s leadership instability, noting the new supreme leader’s conspicuous absence from public view. He admitted genuine uncertainty about who was running Iran and observed visible competition among rival factions in Tehran. Netanyahu concluded that this internal chaos, combined with military losses, was hastening the conflict’s conclusion.