Politics

Following is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement at the White House press conference, yesterday (Tuesday, 4 February 2025), with US President Donald Trump:

“Thank you Mr. President. I’m honored that you invited me to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House in your second term.

This is a testament to your friendship and support for the Jewish state and the Jewish people. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. That’s why the people of Israel have such enormous respect for you.

In your first term, you recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, you moved the American embassy there, you recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, you withdrew from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. I remember we spoke about it and you said, ‘This is the worst deal I’ve ever seen. I’m elected, I’m walking out of it.’ That’s exactly what you did. I think it speaks loudly for common sense, just looking at things and seeing them as they are.

And of course, you also brokered the groundbreaking Abraham Accords in which Israel made peace with four Arab states. You did this in four months. Nothing happened for a quarter of a century but in four months we were able, working together under your leadership, to have four historic peace accords.

And now, in the first days of your second term, you picked up right where you left off. Your leadership to help bring our hostages home, among them American citizens. You freed up munitions that have been withheld from Israel in the midst of a seven front war for our existence. You ended unjust sanctions against law-abiding Israeli citizens, you boldly confronted the scourge of antisemitism, you stopped funding international organizations like UNRWA that support and fund terrorists, and today you renewed the maximum pressure campaign against Iran.

Ladies and gentlemen, all this in just two weeks, can we imagine where we’ll be in four years? I can, I know you can, Mr. President. For our part, we in Israel have been pretty busy too.

Since the horrendous October 7th attack, we’ve been fighting our common enemies and changing the face of the Middle East. On that infamous day, Hamas monsters savagely murdered innocent people, including more than 40 Americans. They beheaded men, raped women and burnt babies alive, and they took 251 people hostage to the dungeons of Gaza.

After this worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, Iran and its henchmen in the Middle East were absolutely ecstatic. Haniyeh praised the massacre, Sinwar said Israel was finished, Nasrallah boasted that Israel was ‘as feeble as a spider’s web.’

Well, Mr. President, Haniyeh is gone, Sinwar is gone, Nasrallah is gone, we’ve devastated Hamas, decimated Hezbollah, destroyed Assad’s remaining armaments and we crippled Iran’s air defenses. In doing this, we’ve defeated some of America’s worst enemies. We took out terrorists who were wanted for decades for shedding rivers of American blood, including 241 Marines murdered in Beirut. We accomplished all this with the indomitable spirit of our people and the boundless courage of our soldiers.

The Bible says that the people of Israel shall rise like lions and boy, did we rise. Today, the roar of the lion of Judah is heard loudly throughout the Middle East.

Israel has never been stronger and the Iran terror axis has never been weaker. But as we discussed Mr. President, to secure our future and bring peace to our region, we have to finish the job.

In Gaza Israel has three goals: Destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, secure the release of all our hostages and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.

I believe, Mr. President, that your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time and time again.

Your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas will help us to achieve these goals. And I’ve seen you do this many times. You cut to the chase, see things others refuse to see, say things others refuse to say and after the jaws drop people scratch their heads and say, ‘You know, he’s right.’ This is the kind of thinking that enabled us to bring the Abraham Accords, enable us to shape the Middle East and bring peace.

We also see eye to eye on Iran. The same Iran that tried to kill us both. They tried to kill you and they tried through their proxies to kill me. We’re both committed to rolling back Iran’s aggression in the region and ensuring that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, Israel will end the war by winning the war. Israel’s victory will be America’s victory. We’ll not only win the war, working together, we’ll win the peace. With your leadership and our partnership, I believe that we will forge a brilliant future for our region and bring our great alliance to even greater heights. Thank you.”