Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that Israel could face a “hostile” US president in two years, emphasizing the need to capitalize on the time remaining in US President Donald Trump’s term.
“There is a window of another two years with President Trump, and one of the questions in these elections is who will work with Trump? Who will complete the remaining work?” Netanyahu said.
Speaking as he presented his security strategy for Israel in the coming years, Netanyahu raised concerns about how the next Israeli prime minister would manage relations with a potentially hostile US administration.
“We need to do the best we can during these two years – and in the two years afterward – to act when things are good and even if things are bad,” he said.
Netanyahu said he was preparing for that possibility by strengthening Israel’s alliances with countries across the Middle East and beyond.
“I am working now with many countries in our region, as well as countries outside our region, to establish these alliances – for example, with India, and there are other countries as well,” he said.
Netanyahu vows to bring down Iranian regime
Turning to Iran, Netanyahu said Israel's goal was to topple the country's ruling regime.
“It cannot remain in power. It simply cannot, and I am committed to bringing it down,” he said.
Netanyahu claimed that signs of unrest were beginning to emerge in Iran as economic pressure intensified under the Trump administration's blockade and sanctions.
“The economy is in such a difficult state that it is beginning to put pressure on the citizens,” he said.
He added that Israel had developed a comprehensive plan to bring down the Iranian regime.
“That is the directive I gave to all the security agencies, and that is what will happen,” he said.
Netanyahu also stressed that Israel was prepared to act against both Iran's nuclear program and the broader threat posed by its leadership, even without US assistance.
“As necessary, we will also act independently. We have already done so, and if necessary, we will do so again,” he said.
Netanyahu condemns settler violence but says issue is exaggerated
Addressing violence by Israeli settlers, including attacks over the weekend on a Washington Post photographer and European diplomats in the West Bank, Netanyahu said he believed the issue was being “greatly exaggerated.”
“I think the great danger is that we are essentially experiencing a major propaganda campaign surrounding these young rioters, who are causing us enormous damage,” he said.
Despite that assessment, Netanyahu condemned the violence, saying the perpetrators' actions were unacceptable.
“They are doing something that cannot be accepted. You do not take the law into your own hands. This is not taking the law into your own hands – it is tearing the law apart with your hands. We are a state governed by the rule of law,” he said.
“These acts of rioting are serious in their own right and also damage the country. That is why I brought the Shin Bet into the matter for the first time, and we will employ additional measures to eradicate this phenomenon at its roots,” he added.
Netanyahu also accused Israel's critics of failing to take action against Palestinian Authority officials over payments to terrorists under what he called the “pay-for-slay” policy and incitement to destroy Israel.
Netanyahu rules out Palestinian state in future normalization deals
Turning to the Abraham Accords, Netanyahu said expanding the US-brokered normalization agreements to include additional Arab countries remained a priority.
“They are all coming back to us, and we can expand this into broad international agreements,” he said, referring to Arab countries.
However, Netanyahu ruled out any normalization agreement that would involve the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“That is off the table,” he said. “Our potential partners also understand this. They speak differently in public and in private, but this is self-evident.”
“We are not going to commit suicide to reach an agreement that would bring us to the brink of destruction, because we understand that a Palestinian state would serve as a forward base for our annihilation. We will not allow that,” he said.
Netanyahu hopes to avoid direct confrontation with Turkey
On relations with Turkey, Netanyahu said he hoped to avoid a direct confrontation between the two countries amid ongoing tensions.
“I hope we do not reach a head-on confrontation. At least, that is what I am trying to achieve,” he said.
Netanyahu said he would welcome a return to the close ties Israel and Turkey once enjoyed but expressed skepticism that relations could improve under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“I do not think that is going to happen under Erdogan’s rule,” he said.
Netanyahu pointed to Erdogan's rhetoric toward Israel as a source of concern, saying Israel was preparing for all possible scenarios.
“He says that the State of Israel must be destroyed, that they must return to ruling Jerusalem because it is their city. All these statements are extremely hostile, and we are taking every possibility into account,” Netanyahu said.