Netanyahu Dismisses Iran Deal Prospects, Calls Iranian Leaders 'Savages'
Netanyahu said he had no objection to a “good agreement” with Iran but told Trump he believed no deal could be made with its leadership, which he called “savages,” while backing tighter pressure on those supporting Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the prospect of reaching an agreement with Iran’s leadership, telling Donald Trump that a deal could not be made with people he described as “savages.”
Netanyahu said he had discussed several options on Iran with Trump, including a possible agreement. But he immediately cast doubt on whether such an outcome was achievable.
“I just doubt whether you can make an agreement with that group there, with those savages. I tell you, you cannot make an agreement with them,” Netanyahu said.
Pressure Over Diplomacy
Netanyahu said Israel would not oppose what he described as a “good agreement” with Iran, but his remarks made clear that he did not believe the current Iranian leadership could deliver one.
He instead pointed to increased pressure as another option he had raised with Trump.
Netanyahu said Trump had acted to “tighten the siege” by targeting those assisting the Iranian government rather than Iran itself.
“What President Trump did yesterday was tighten the siege on Iran, not by tightening the siege on Iran itself, but by tightening the siege on those who help this regime, this terrible dictatorship,” he said.
Iran Challenge Remains
Netanyahu said confrontation with Iran remained unresolved and placed it alongside continuing Israeli objectives in Gaza, Lebanon and other theaters.
“The challenge of Iran has not ended,” he said.
He added that Israel still had to “finish the challenge” in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as in unspecified other arenas, and said his government was determined to do so.
Call for Aliyah
Netanyahu separately addressed Jewish communities abroad, saying Israel remained open to Jewish immigration and predicting a significant future increase in aliyah.
He said Jews around the world increasingly understood Israel to be “our land” and told them that “the door is open.”
Netanyahu said preparations were being made for what he described as “a very great wave of aliyah.”
Netanyahu Revisits Uganda Plan
The Israeli prime minister also referred to Theodor Herzl’s Uganda Plan, saying Herzl had promoted it because he foresaw the danger facing Jews in Europe.
Netanyahu argued, however, that Uganda could not have generated the same historical and national attachment associated with Zion and the Land of Israel.