Newsmax: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump’s “bold leadership” in a speech before the United Nations on Thursday, crediting the president and the United States with playing a decisive role alongside Israel in confronting Iran and crippling its military and nuclear capabilities.
Speaking before the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Netanyahu portrayed the U.S.-Israel partnership as essential to stopping what he described as an existential danger posed by Tehran.
“In this battle against the barbarians, we’ve had no greater partner than President Trump,” Netanyahu said. “I thank him. I thank him for his bold leadership.”
Netanyahu said Trump recognized the danger posed by Iran’s leadership and was prepared to act rather than allow Tehran’s capabilities to grow unchecked.
“He understood that if left unchallenged, the fanatic ayatollahs who chant ‘Death to America, death to Israel’ would eventually carry out their mad fantasies,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader said American and Israeli forces worked together against Iran, including joint missions over Iranian territory.
“So Israel and America acted together not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilization,” Netanyahu said. “Brave American pilots alongside brave Israeli pilots flew joint missions over the skies of Iran.”
Netanyahu said the partnership dealt major blows to Iran’s military infrastructure and nuclear facilities.
He told the General Assembly that Israel, working with its “great American friends,” had “crushed Iran’s army, navy, air force, and nuclear facilities.”
Earlier in the address, Netanyahu recalled standing at the U.N. 14 years ago and drawing a red line to warn against Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
He said the subsequent decision to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities was difficult to execute but easy to make because of the stakes involved.
“Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard. It was very hard to do,” Netanyahu said.
“But for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister, because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead.”
Netanyahu also described Iran as the central force behind a network of adversaries Israel has fought since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. He said Israel had faced a “seven-front war” involving Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq and Syria, and Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
The prime minister said Iran had fired 1,000 ballistic missiles at Israeli cities and civilians during the conflict, using the General Assembly building itself to illustrate the destructive potential of the weapons.
Netanyahu’s address presented the campaign against Iran as a demonstration of the strength of the U.S.-Israel alliance — and Trump as the American leader willing to use military power when Netanyahu believed the Iranian threat required it.
Netanyahu also credited U.S.-Israeli cooperation with securing the return of Israel’s remaining hostages, telling the assembly, “America and Israel also worked together to bring back our remaining hostages.”