Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed to the conspicuous absence of Mojtaba, Iran’s anticipated new supreme leader, as a significant sign that the country’s leadership had lost control during the conflict on Friday. He combined this political observation with a military announcement, declaring that Iran had lost all uranium enrichment and ballistic missile capabilities after twenty days of fighting. Netanyahu rejected reports about Israeli manipulation of US foreign policy. He expressed confidence the war was approaching its conclusion.
The prime minister was expansive about the Trump-Israel alliance. He described their coordination as historically unprecedented and framed Trump as the partnership’s leader. Netanyahu revealed that Trump had brought an independently formed and deeply analytical understanding of Iran’s nuclear threat to their discussions, reflecting a partnership of genuine strategic equals.
Netanyahu confirmed Israel struck the South Pars gas compound alone and acknowledged Trump’s personal request to hold off on further attacks on Iranian gas infrastructure. He handled both disclosures transparently, framing them as natural features of a close and functioning alliance. Netanyahu was clear throughout that Israel’s military autonomy remained fully intact.
On Iran’s Hormuz threats, Netanyahu called them blackmail and dismissed them. He proposed pipeline routes from the Arabian Peninsula to Israeli and Mediterranean ports as a permanent structural solution. Netanyahu argued this infrastructure would create lasting energy resilience and permanently remove the Hormuz chokepoint as an Iranian weapon.
Netanyahu ended with observations about Iran’s visible leadership chaos. He noted he was genuinely unsure who was governing the country and pointed to fierce competition among Tehran’s power factions. Netanyahu concluded that this political instability, combined with military losses, was driving the war toward an end sooner than most people anticipated.