Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing intense pressure both from within and from outside his coalition government over having lost the war against Iran, tried to make defeat look like victory during a late-night press conference on June 15. According to The Times of Israel, he claimed that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons was his “life’s mission,” saying: “With an agreement or without an agreement, Iran will not have nuclear weapons—not today and not tomorrow. As long as I am Prime Minister of Israel, it will not happen.” He repeated his assertion that the nuclear threat from Iran had been an “immediate danger” and Israel succeeded in removing it, “together with our American friends.”
“We removed, for years to come, this danger hanging over us of the elimination of Israel’s population. That is what we did. We saved the State of Israel from annihilation,” Netanyahu claimed. He added, however, that “the struggle is not over and complete. We will need to continue standing guard, continue being strong and determined, and defend ourselves as much as necessary.”
At the same time, Netanyahu refused to commit to Trump’s deal: “This agreement was made by the United States, by the president... And he believes that he can truly combine both the opening of the [Strait of Hormuz] and the cancellation of the nuclear program… And I repeat and say that this is his decision, and he is leading it... Of course, I expressed my view in various conversations.”
