Photo: Alamy
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump as Israel’s strongest ally in the White House during an interview Thursday, highlighting recent joint operations against Iran’s nuclear facilities and calling the cooperation between the two nations “tremendous.”
Speaking with Newsmax from Blair House in Washington, Netanyahu reflected on the close partnership between the U.S. and Israel under Trump’s leadership, which he said reached historic levels of alignment.
“It’s extraordinary. We’ve never had such a friend, such a supporter of Israel, a Jewish state, in the White House,” Netanyahu said.
“President Trump has been — what can I tell you — tremendous. I mean, and the cooperation is tremendous. Look at what our cooperation produces. Look at what happens when there’s no daylight between an American president and an Israeli prime minister,” he added.
Netanyahu said the joint airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, carried out in recent weeks, had delayed the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions by years.
“We rolled back the greatest threat … to both our countries,” he said. “Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. We stopped it in the nick of time.”
The Israeli leader warned that Tehran’s weapons program posed a danger far beyond the Middle East, pointing to Iran’s efforts to equip intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.
“They actually put a price on President Trump’s head and mine,” Netanyahu said. “They want to develop the means of mass death, atomic bombs, and the means to deliver them to every theater near you. That’s what they’re trying to do. And we stopped them.”
Netanyahu said he had pushed previous U.S. presidents to act militarily against Iran’s nuclear program but was unsuccessful.
The interview comes after Netanyahu formally nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday, citing his role in brokering peace agreements in the Middle East and his leadership on global security.
Netanyahu presented Trump with a copy of the nomination letter during a meeting at the White House, praising the president’s efforts in forging the Abraham Accords and addressing regional threats.
“I want to express the appreciation and admiration, not only of all Israelis, but of the Jewish people and many, many admirers around the world for your leadership, your leadership of the free world, your leadership of a just cause, and the pursuit of peace and security,” Netanyahu said.