Netanyahu rejects Vance’s claim Trump is Israel’s only friend, says ‘many’ seek ties

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back in an interview with Fox News on Sunday against US Vice President JD Vance’s recent claim that US President Donald Trump is Israel’s only ally, insisting that Jerusalem still has “many friends” around the world, while still highlighting its unique relationship with Washington.

Netanyahu also took the opportunity to reiterate that he and Trump share the same goals when it comes to Iran, but stressed that even if Washington doesn’t reach a nuclear deal with Tehran, he will ensure that it never obtains a nuclear weapon so long as he is prime minister.

The premier was questioned during the interview about public disagreements between Washington and Jerusalem over the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran to end the war that began on February 28.

Israel was not a party to the agreement and is not involved in the resulting negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, but was nevertheless required by it to halt its fight against the Islamic Republic. Israeli officials have made their displeasure over the terms of the agreement known, and Netanyahu said last week that he would dispatch a delegation to Washington to discuss the MOU.

Nevertheless, he insisted to Fox News that he and Trump “are set on the same goal.”

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“We want to see Iran give up its nuclear weapons program. We want to see the nuclear-enriched material removed. We want to see the enrichment sites for nuclear material dismantled. We have other common objectives,” he said.

“President Trump believes that after the battering that the two of us — Israel and the United States — gave to Iran, he thinks that he can generate enough leeway, enough pressure, through the negotiations to get these goals achieved. And, you know, we respect that, and I hope he succeeds,” Netanyahu continued, before adding, “I can tell you this: Deal or no deal, as long as I’m prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.”

He declined to comment on criticism from his supporters who have argued that the MOU leaves the Iranian regime intact and poised to recover, saying that the negotiations between Tehran and Washington are “not over,” and he will only pass judgment once they are.

“Believe me, if I have things that I want to point out in my own opinions, I do so in a free way. And when he has things he wants to tell me, he does that in a free way too. That’s what friends and allies do with each other,” Netanyahu added, again highlighting what he said was his close relationship with the US president.

“The most important thing is that we have a common goal. And that means Iran does not have nuclear weapons or the capacity to make nuclear weapons,” he said, adding that the world was “very lucky” that Trump is “leading the free world in this common effort.”

The prime minister was keen to dismiss any notion of a “rift” between himself and Trump, after several instances of the US president publicly insulting him over matters relating to the fighting in Iran or against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In the last few weeks alone, Trump has referred to Netanyahu as “fucking crazy,” said he has “no fucking judgement,” and said that the Israeli leader “knows who the boss is.”

But Netanyahu downplayed those comments to Fox News, insisting that “America has no greater ally than Israel and Israel has no greater ally than the United States.”

“Trump is the leader of the United States; he does what’s good for America. I am the leader of Israel, the one and only Jewish state. I do what’s good for Israel,” the premier said. “Ninety-nine percent of the time we see eye-to-eye, but as in any family, in any close friendship, there are sometimes differences of opinion, and we discuss them openly, I can tell you, and in a free spirit, and usually we resolve them.”

Netanyahu announced on Friday that he and Trump had agreed to meet in Washington in the near future, which Trump later confirmed to Axios while noting that the meeting was being set up at Netanyahu’s request.

PM insists Israel has ‘many, many friends’

Although keen to stress the unique closeness enjoyed by Israel and the US under their respective leaders, Netanyahu disputed the accuracy of Vance’s portrayal of Trump as the only world leader to still have Jerusalem’s back.

“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance declared last month while castigating the Jewish state for its response to the US-Iran MOU. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”

Pushing back, Netanyahu didn’t deny that Trump was “the greatest friend we ever had in the White House,” but denied that he was the only one.

India, he said, “has 1.4 billion people. And boy, do we have tremendous support there.” He also cited the “overwhelming support” he said he receives on his Facebook page, apparently referring to engagement from Indian users, as evidence.

“And we have many others,” the premier continued, without identifying any of the countries by name. Instead, he repeated a claim he has made in the past that, despite the rise of anti-Israeli and antisemitic views among many countries’ populations, global leaders continue to approach him seeking cooperation with Israel, especially on defense and technology.

“In many countries, because their media and their social media are inundated with anti-Israel, antisemitic material, many leaders, you know, call me up and say, ‘Hey, look, I’ve got this problem with public opinion, but I want you to know, we respect you, and can we make some deals, and can you teach us some of the things that your military does, and can we have some of your AI and cyber expertise?’”

“You know, Israel is the number two country in cyber in the world, and our technology is so good. So the relations are not quite as they appear, and we have many, many friends,” Netanyahu insisted.

‘More cards to play’ in Lebanon

Warming up to his theme, the premier said that Israel also “takes care of its friends,” and claimed that some Christian villages in Lebanon have “asked to be annexed to Israel because we protect them against the Hezbollah fanatics who want to kill them — and we do the same things with Christians everywhere.”

The premier did not specify which Christian villages he was referring to, or if such calls were made privately or publicly.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Defense Minister Israel Katz have both said Israel does not have territorial ambitions in Lebanon, but that it won’t withdraw from the security zone it has established in southern Lebanon so long as Hezbollah remains a threat.

Later in the interview, Netanyahu said the recent Israel-Lebanon deal brokered by Washington has shown that he and Trump “have more cards to play” in terms of expanding Israel’s ties in the region, adding that Lebanon “would like to free itself of Hezbollah.”

Without offering specific evidence, Netanyahu argued: “It’s not only the Christians in Lebanon who asked for our protection. It’s the Druze, it’s Muslims, the Sunni muslims and quite a few of the Shiite muslims too… they’d like to free Lebanon. I hope we can get more peace deals.”

While not a formal peace deal, the Israel-Lebanon framework formalized both countries’ intent to eventually normalize relations following the disarmament of Hezbollah and a full Israeli withdrawal from its southern Lebanon security zone.

PM optimistic despite waning support for Israel in US

Turning to the matter of waning support for Israel in the US, and among young Republicans in particular, Netanyahu acknowledged that he was “worried about it,” but didn’t expect it to shatter the relationship between the two countries.

The premier suggested, as he has in the past, that nefarious messaging on social media was to blame for declining support for Israel among young people, saying social media platforms have “been used and abused by countries, three in particular, and they have bot farms that push the stuff against America and against Israel, and it focuses on young people and young Americans.”

While the premier did not identify the three countries he was referring to, he has previously accused both Qatar and China of influencing Western media “using bots, artificial intelligence, and advertisements.”

Still, the premier said he was not worried about the declining support having a long-term impact on the US-Israeli relationship, as it is one “not merely based on common interests” but on “common values” as well.

“I think as long as we have that, our alliance will be fine,” he predicted.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.