Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters Friday that Israel had crushed Iran’s nuclear power in just three weeks, rendering the country incapable of enriching uranium or manufacturing ballistic missiles. He denied Israeli responsibility for US involvement in the war and predicted the conflict would end sooner than most people expected. Netanyahu’s press conference was one of his most confident and comprehensive assessments of the war’s progress since fighting began.
The prime minister described the Trump-Israel alliance in strong and personal terms. He called their coordination historically unprecedented and framed Trump as the partnership’s leader. Netanyahu disclosed that Trump had contributed his own independently formed and analytically deep understanding of Iran’s nuclear threat to their discussions, reflecting a genuine partnership of strategic equals.
Netanyahu confirmed Israel’s unilateral strike on the South Pars gas compound and disclosed Trump’s personal request to pause further strikes on Iranian gas infrastructure. He presented both facts with diplomatic transparency, framing them as natural features of a close and functioning alliance. Netanyahu maintained throughout that Israel’s military autonomy remained uncompromised.
On Iran’s Hormuz threats, Netanyahu dismissed them as hollow blackmail that would fail. He proposed overland pipeline corridors from the Arabian Peninsula to Israeli and Mediterranean ports as a lasting structural solution. Netanyahu argued this would permanently neutralize Hormuz as a strategic weapon and create durable energy security for the region.
Netanyahu concluded with observations about Iran’s leadership vacuum. He noted Mojtaba had not appeared publicly since fighting began and admitted genuine uncertainty about who was governing the country. Netanyahu pointed to visible competition for power in Tehran and concluded that this instability, combined with military losses, was accelerating the war’s conclusion.
