Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a precise definition of the US-Israel partnership on Friday, saying Israel hit Iran alone on the battlefield while America provided strategic support and alignment — and that this was exactly how the alliance was designed to work. He announced Iran had lost all uranium enrichment and ballistic missile capabilities after twenty days of conflict and rejected claims about Israeli manipulation of American foreign policy. Netanyahu expressed confidence throughout the press conference that the war was nearing its end.
The prime minister spoke about Trump’s role in the partnership with admiration and specificity. He called their coordination historically unprecedented and framed Trump as the alliance’s dominant figure. Netanyahu disclosed that Trump had contributed his own independently formed and analytically sophisticated understanding of Iran’s nuclear threat to their discussions, reflecting a genuine partnership of shared conviction.
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 facilities. He handled both facts with transparency, presenting them as natural features of a mature alliance. Netanyahu maintained throughout that Israel’s right to independent military decision-making remained non-negotiable.
On the Hormuz issue, Netanyahu dismissed Iran’s closure threats as 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 eliminate the Hormuz chokepoint as a tool of Iranian geopolitical pressure.
Netanyahu concluded with observations about Iran’s visible leadership confusion. He noted Mojtaba had not been seen publicly and admitted genuine uncertainty about who was governing the country. Netanyahu pointed to the fierce competition for power in Tehran and concluded that this instability, combined with military losses, was pushing the war toward a faster-than-expected end.