2026-05-10T19:00:22-0400 / https://www.cbsnews.com/news/netanyahu-us-israel-iran-60-minutes-transcript/
美国和伊朗之间的停火协议今日再度遭到疑似伊朗无人机在波斯湾发动袭击的考验，这场已从海湾地区蔓延至黎巴嫩的冲突再度升级，进一步复杂化了白宫达成重启霍尔木兹海峡通航、稳定能源价格协议的努力。
在局势万分危急之际——且这场战争已进入第11周——我们的CBS新闻同事梅杰·加勒特昨日采访了以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡。这是战争爆发以来内塔尼亚胡首次接受美国广播电视采访。他措辞谨慎，但仔细聆听便能捕捉到这场战争乃至整个地区未来走向的信号。
梅杰·加勒特： 与伊朗的战争已经结束了吗？如果没有，将由谁决定战争何时结束？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我认为这场战争已经取得了巨大成果，但并未结束，因为伊朗仍有 enriched——需要移除的浓缩铀。仍有——需要拆除的浓缩铀设施。仍有——伊朗支持的代理人武装。仍有他们仍在——研发的弹道导弹。如今，我们已经削弱了其中不少部分。但这些威胁依然存在，还有工作要做。
梅杰·加勒特： 你设想将高浓缩铀从伊朗移除的具体方式是什么？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 派人进去，把它取出来。
梅杰·加勒特： 动用什么力量？以色列特种部队，还是美国特种部队？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我不会谈论军事手段，但总统特朗普曾对我说，“我想亲自进去”。我认为从物理层面来说可以做到。这不是问题。如果达成协议，然后派人进去把铀取出来，何乐而不为？这是最佳方案。
梅杰·加勒特： 如果没有达成协议呢？能否通过武力移除？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 你会问我这些问题。我会避而不答。因为我不会谈论我们的军事——可能性、计划，或任何此类事宜。
梅杰·加勒特： 我只是想弄清楚，“实现这一目标需要多长时间？”
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我不会给出时间表，但我可以说，这是一项极其重要的任务。
就在我们与总理会谈的数小时前，以色列袭击了黎巴嫩境内受伊朗支持的真主党恐怖分子。这是对伊朗战争的第二条战线——对以色列而言的重要性远高于美国。
梅杰·加勒特： 总理先生，有没有可能与伊朗的战争结束了，但与真主党的战争仍在继续？这将是两个——
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 如果我们——
梅杰·加勒特： ——彼此独立、分歧的战场——
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 嗯，它们本应如此。本应如此。伊朗想要做的就是宣称，“你知道吗，如果我们在这里达成停火，我们也希望在那里实现停火——”
梅杰·加勒特： 他们确实这么做了。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 没错。
梅杰·加勒特： 显而易见。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 你知道为什么吗？因为他们希望真主党留在当地，继续折磨黎巴嫩，继续挟持该国人民为人质，并且继续——
梅杰·加勒特： 你会接受这种情况吗？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 不。不，我们已经表明——
梅杰·加勒特： 即便特朗普总统要求你这么做？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 嗯，听着，他理解我的意思。我的意思是，我们——我们想要消除对我们社区、我们城市的威胁。他们一直在用火箭弹袭击我们的城市。他们袭击我们的社区。当然他——你想这样生活吗？
梅杰·加勒特： 所以这场冲突可能会持续下去？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 是的，但我——
梅杰·加勒特： 即便伊朗问题得到解决？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我希望——不。如果伊朗——如果这个政权真的被削弱或被推翻，我认为真主党也将终结，哈马斯也将终结，胡塞武装可能也会终结，因为如果伊朗政权垮台，伊朗建立的恐怖代理人网络整个架构都会崩塌。
梅杰·加勒特： 你认为推翻伊朗政权是有可能的吗？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我认为无法预测何时会发生。有可能吗？有。有保障吗？没有。
但据《纽约时报》的调查显示，在战争爆发前几天，内塔尼亚胡曾向总统提交过一份更为乐观的方案。
梅杰·加勒特： 《纽约时报》的报道如下：“2月11日，在 Situation Room 会议室，内塔尼亚胡先生进行了一番强力游说，称伊朗政权更迭的时机已经成熟，并相信美以联合行动最终能够终结伊斯兰共和国。”这一说法正确吗？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 不。这实际上是不准确的，因为——
梅杰·加勒特： 哪些地方不准确？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 不准确之处在于，我并没有说“哦，好吧，我们肯定能做到”之类的话。
梅杰·加勒特： 在那次谈话的范围内——
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 哦，没错。
梅杰·加勒特： ——你指出了不确定性？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我不仅指出了。我们双方都同意，你知道，行动中存在不确定性和风险。我记得我们——我说过，他也说过，危险——采取行动存在危险。但不采取行动的危险更大。
梅杰·加勒特： 《纽约时报》还报道称，内塔尼亚胡及其团队列出了他们认为指向必然胜利的条件，并补充道“该政权将被削弱到无法封锁霍尔木兹海峡”。这一说法在事实上是否不准确？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我认为我们无法精确量化，但我认为——霍尔木兹海峡的问题——随着战事推进，人们已经有所认识。我认为那是——
梅杰·加勒特： 人们逐渐认识到了？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 人们逐渐认识到了。
梅杰·加勒特： 一开始就被误读了吗？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我——我不确定是否被误读。但你知道，伊朗这么做存在——巨大风险。他们花了一段时间才意识到风险有多大，如今他们已经明白了。不，我——我不声称——拥有完美的先见之明，没有人拥有完美的先见之明。伊朗方面也没有。
同样未被预见的还有伊朗对周边海湾国家军事报复的规模及其造成的破坏。总理告诉我们，会有多少阿拉伯国家有意加强与以色列的联系，这会让我们大吃一惊。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我如今看到了我们现有协议扩大和深化的可能性，与阿拉伯国家建立我们此前连做梦都想不到的盟友关系。
梅杰·加勒特： 海湾君主国日益担忧，它们不会允许也不希望以色列在中东占据战略主导地位。那么这一切是否受到了损害？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我听到了不同的说法。我从阿拉伯国家那里听到了事实，我不会详细说明。
梅杰·加勒特： 所有国家吗？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 不。但其中一些国家，我以前从未听过。“让我们加强与以色列的盟友关系”，因为这实际上能威慑伊朗。让我们加强与以色列的盟友关系，因为我们可以与以色列合作实现惊人的成就。
梅杰·加勒特： 这显然是此次冲突之前的发展轨迹。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 如今的发展比你想象的还要快，尽管我无法——我想这会公开的，虽然你知道，我不能一次性把所有信息都透露给《60分钟》节目或你。但我可以告诉你，在能源、人工智能、量子计算等领域的经济合作程度，以色列在这些领域拥有强大实力。他们如今看到了与我们共享——这些能力成果的可能性。而且这一切正在发生。
同样正在发生的——或是在本周晚些时候——中国国家主席习近平与特朗普总统的峰会。中国是全球通过霍尔木兹海峡进口原油最多的国家。我们对中国在伊朗问题上的军事介入感到好奇。
梅杰·加勒特： 我想问问你，你所了解的中国向残存的伊朗政权提供具有实质价值的军事支持一事，是否属实？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 中国提供了一定数量的支持，特别是导弹制造的——某些组件。但我不能说——更多细节了。
梅杰·加勒特： 这让你感到不安吗？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 嗯，我不喜欢这样。
梅杰·加勒特： 因为他们显然现在仍在这么做。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 有可能。有可能。我不想代表中国发言。我也不想——
梅杰·加勒特： 但你对此有所耳闻——
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： ——为总统发言。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 是的，你知道——但必要时我也会守口如瓶。
数十年来，美国对以色列的军事援助一直得到两党共识的支持。目前的援助金额为每年38亿美元，而由于公众对以色列以及整体对外援助的态度发生转变，这笔援助如今正受到新的政治审视。
梅杰·加勒特： 你认为以色列国是否到了重新审视并可能调整与美国的财政关系的时候？也就是说，美国每年向以色列提供的援助。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 绝对是。我已经对特朗普总统说过了。我已经对——我们本国人民说过了。他们都大吃一惊，但我说，“听着。”
梅杰·加勒特： 你是什么意思？你想说什么？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我想要彻底摆脱美国的财政支持，也就是我们之间军事合作中的财政部分。因为我们收到——我们每年收到38亿美元。而我——我认为我们该摆脱剩余的——军事支持了。
梅杰·加勒特： 你能给出一个时间表吗？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 我说过，我们现在就可以开始，在未来十年内完成，未来十年，但我希望现在就启动。我不想等到下一届国会。我希望现在就开始。
深谙美国政治的内塔尼亚胡敏锐地察觉到美国民众对以色列的支持正在下降。根据皮尤研究中心最近的一项调查，60%的美国成年人表示对以色列持负面看法，四年来上升了近20个百分点。
其中一个重要原因：加沙战争。据哈马斯控制的加沙卫生部统计，已有超过7万人丧生，其中包括平民和哈马斯恐怖分子。
内塔尼亚胡几乎将以色列的声誉受损完全归咎于社交媒体，他将其称为战争的“第八战线”。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 这个，这个是你的，对吧？（举起手机）
梅杰·加勒特： 嗯哼。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 你也无法幸免。因为你可以侵入这个设备。你可以侵入这个——这个小仪器。你可以对梅杰·加勒特说任何你想说的话。我可以把你描绘成怪物。如果我反复这么说，足够多的人就会相信。
梅杰·加勒特： 你认为以色列是否有可能在社交媒体这条战线上输掉这场战争？这一点尤其重要，在美国，年轻的共和党和民主党选民通过滚动浏览图片来了解情况。他们会用“野蛮”这样的词来形容加沙和黎巴嫩的局势。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 以色列已经采取了令人难以置信的措施，将无辜平民置于危险之外。
我们向他们发送了数百万条短信——打了数百万通电话，分发小册子、传单，应有尽有，好吗？
我们看到美国民众对以色列的支持几乎——我想说，这几乎与社交媒体的几何级增长完全相关。这本身并不是导致支持率下降的原因。我——我不赞成审查他们或任何类似的做法。
但我要告诉你发生了什么。有几个国家基本上操纵了社交媒体。它们的手段非常高明。而这——这严重损害了我们的形象。
梅杰·加勒特： 总理先生，你是否认为，以色列在战术或战略上没有任何失误，无论是在加沙还是约旦河西岸，这些失误都以各自的方式导致了外界对以色列的负面印象，无论是在社交媒体上还是其他地方？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 不，当然不是。听着，这是战争。在战争中，军队有时会误击，平民会死亡。这些都是失误，不是故意为之。以色列在媒体战线、宣传战线上受到围攻，我们在宣传战争中表现不佳。
国际刑事法院——以色列和美国均未承认该法院——指控内塔尼亚胡因以色列在加沙的军事行动犯下战争罪。内塔尼亚胡表示，他尚未实现自己最重要的目标之一：解除哈马斯武装。
梅杰·加勒特： 接下来怎么办？
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 必须有人解除他们的武装。然后必须有人——使加沙非军事化。我想说，解除武装、非军事化、去极端化，因为你不想让这些狂热分子留在那里。
梅杰·加勒特： 这是以色列的义务吗？还是说这是国际社会通过和平委员会以某种方式承担的——
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 梅杰，梅杰，找一个愿意这么做的国家。你知道，如果最终落到我们头上，那么我们会（噪音）不得不这么做，但我们会选择行动的时机和环境，因为，你知道，我们还有其他几件事要处理。但我们不会让哈马斯——再次威胁以色列。这件事必须完成。可以用强硬的方式，也可以用温和的方式。我总是倾向于温和的方式，因为与我的——刻板印象不同，我参加过战争，见过——战争的悲剧，我的家人也经历过战争——你不会轻易派年轻人，有时还有年轻女性上战场。
梅杰·加勒特： 不过，总理先生，有一种印象是，人们认为你渴望冲突。
总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡： 这很有趣，你知道，因为多年来，我被认为，对吧，在10月7日之前，我被认为可能是以色列历史上最克制的总理。人们认为我——在政治上强硬，但在军事上非常克制。显然，10月7日之后情况变了，因为他们要消灭我们。我不认为这仅仅是哈马斯的袭击。我看到了它的本质，这是伊朗轴心国发动的袭击，试图通过死亡绞索消灭我们。我在战争的第二天就说过，“我们将改变中东。”我们将改变这种他们联合起来对付我们、企图消灭唯一的犹太国家、消灭3500年犹太历史的状况。这不会发生，在我的任期内不会。我对以色列公民说，“在你们的任期内也不会。”
制作：阿登·法希、安迪·考特、马克·利伯曼和艾琳·莱尔。现场制片：米哈尔·本-加尔。联合制片：简·格里利、梅根·利森、卡西迪·麦克唐纳和乔治亚·罗森伯格。剪辑：彼得·M·伯曼和沃伦·卢斯蒂格。助理编辑：艾莎·克雷斯波。
Netanyahu wants Israel “to draw down to zero the American financial support”
2026-05-10T19:00:22-0400 / https://www.cbsnews.com/news/netanyahu-us-israel-iran-60-minutes-transcript/
The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was tested again today by suspected Iranian drone strikes in the Persian Gulf, another spurt of hostilities in a war that has now spread from the Gulf to Lebanon, further complicating White House efforts to close a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and stabilize energy prices.
With so much at stake — and as the war stretches into its 11th week — our CBS News colleague Major Garrett spoke yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is Netanyahu’s first U.S. broadcast interview since the war began. He was careful with his words, but if you listen closely, you can find signs of where the war, and the region, may be headed.
Major Garrett: Is the war with Iran over? And if it isn’t, who will decide when it is?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I think it accomplished a great deal, but it’s not over, because there’s still nuclear material, enriched– uranium that has to be taken out of– Iran. There are still– enrichment sites that have to be dismantled. There are still proxies that– Iran supports. There are ballistic missiles that they still– want to produce. Now, we’ve degraded a lot of it. But all that is still there, and there’s work to be done.
Major Garrett: How do you envision the highly enriched uranium will be removed from Iran?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: You go in, and you take it out.
Major Garrett: With what? Special Forces from Israel, Special Forces from the United States?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Well, I’m not gonna talk about military means, but the pres– what President Trump has said to me, “I want to go in there.” and I think it can be done physically. That’s not the problem. If you have an agreement, and you go in, and you take it out, why not? That’s the best way.
Major Garrett: What if there isn’t an agreement? Can it be taken out by force?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Well, you’re gonna ask me these questions. I’m gonna dodge them. Because I’m not gonna talk about our military– possibilities, plans, or anything of the kind.
Major Garrett: And I’m just tryin’ to get at, “How long is it going to take to achieve that aim?”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I’m not gonna give a timetable to it, but I’m gonna say that’s a terrifically important mission.
Hours before we sat down with the prime minister, Israel targeted Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. This is the second front in the war with Iran – much more Israel’s than America’s.
Major Garrett: Is it possible, Mr. Prime Minister, that the war with Iran could end but the war with Hezbollah could continue? That these would be separate–
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: If we–
Major Garrett: –and divergent battlefields–
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Well, they should be. They should be. B– what Iran would like to do is to say, “No, you know, if we achieve a ceasefire here, we want a ceasefire there–“
Major Garrett: They do.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Yeah.
Major Garrett: Clearly.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: You know why? Because they want Hezbollah to stay there and continue to torture Lebanon, continue to hold its people hostage, and continue–
Major Garrett: Will you accept that?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: No. No, we’ve said–
Major Garrett: Even if President Trump asks you to?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Well, look, he understands what I’m saying. I mean, we are– we want to get rid of that danger to our communities, to our cities. They rocket our cities all the time. They rocket our communities. And of course he– would you want to live like that?
Major Garrett: So this could go on?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Yeah, but I–
Major Garrett: Even if Iran is solved?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I hope– I– no. If Iran– if this regime is indeed weakened or possibly toppled, I think it’s the end of Hezbollah, it’s the end of Hamas, it’s probably the end of the Houthis, because the whole scaffolding of the terrorist proxy network that Iran built collapses if the regime in Iran collapses.
Major Garrett: Do you believe it is possible to topple the Iranian regime?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I think that you can’t predict when that happen. Is it possible? Yes. Is it guaranteed? No.
But in the days before the war, according to a New York Times investigation, the prime minister presented a more optimistic case to the president.
Major Garrett: And the New York Times reports as follows. Quote, “In the Situation Room on February 11, Mr. Netanyahu made a hard sell, suggesting that Iran was ripe for regime change and expressing the belief that a joint U.S.-Israeli mission could finally bring an end to the Islamic Republic.” Is that correct?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: No. That’s actually incorrect, because–
Major Garrett: In what ways is it incorrect?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: It’s incorrect in the sense that I said, “Oh, well, it’s guaranteed we can do it,” and so on.
Major Garrett: In the confines of that conversation–
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Oh, yeah.
Major Garrett: –you noted the uncertainty?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Not only did I note it. We both agreed, you know, that there was both uncertainty and risk involved. And I remember that we– I said, and he said that the danger– there’s danger in action, in taking action. But there’s greater danger in not taking action.
Major Garrett: and continuing what the New York Times reported, quote, Mr. Netanyahu and his team outlined conditions they portrayed as pointing to certain victory, adding “the regime would be so weakened that it could not choke off the Strait of Hormuz.” Is that factually incorrect?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I don’t think we could quantify it exactly, but I think that– the– the problem of– the Hormuz Straits was– was understood as the fighting went on. I think that’s–
Major Garrett: It became understood?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: It became understood.
Major Garrett: Was it misread at the beginning?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I think– I’m not sure it was misread. But the– you know, there’s a– great risk for Iran to do it. And it took a while for them to understand how big that risk is, which they understand now. No, I– I don’t claim– perfect foresight, and nobody had perfect foresight. Neither did the Iranians.
Also not foreseen: the degree of Iranian military retribution against neighboring Gulf states and the damage it has caused. The prime minister told us we’d be surprised how many Arab states are interested in strengthening ties with Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I now see the possibility of the expansion and the deepening of the agreements we do have to alliances with Arab states of the kind that we never even dreamed of.
Major Garrett: There is concern rising among the Gulf monarchies that it will not allow and does not want Israel to exercise strategic dominance over the Middle East. So has any of this been jeopardized?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I’m hearing different things. I’m hearing the fact from Arab countries, which I won’t get into.
Major Garrett: All of them?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: No. But some of them, and I never heard that before. “Let’s strengthen our alliance with Israel,” because that in fact, deters Iran. Let’s strengthen our alliance with Israel because we can do amazing things with Israel.
Major Garrett: That was clearly the trajectory before this conflict.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: It’s more than you think now in ways that I cannot– I guess will become public, although, you know, I can’t give everything to 60 Minutes or to you in one shot. But I’m telling you that the degree of economic cooperation on energy, on AI, on quantum, the– the areas where Israel is so strong. And they see the possibility now of sharing– the fruits of these capabilities with them. And that’s happening right now.
Also happening now – or later this week – a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump. China is the world’s largest importer of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz. We were curious about China’s military involvement with Iran.
Major Garrett: I’d like to ask you about what you know about China providing materially valuable military support to what remains of the Iranian regime. True?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: China gave certain amount of support and particular components of– missile manufacturing. But I can’t say– more than that.
Major Garrett: Does that disturb you?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Well, I didn’t like it.
Major Garrett: ‘Cause it’s apparently doing it right now.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Could be. Could be. I don’t want to speak for China. I don’t want to speak also–
Major Garrett: But you have eyes and ears on this–
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: –for President.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Yeah, well, you know– but I also have a closed mouth when necessary.
American military aid to Israel has enjoyed bipartisan consensus for decades. It is now $3.8 billion per year and subject to new political scrutiny because of shifting public attitudes about Israel and foreign aid in general.
Major Garrett: Do you believe it’s time for the state of Israel to reexamine and possibly reset its financial relationship to the United States? Meaning, what the United States provides to Israel on an annual basis.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Absolutely. And I’ve said this to President Trump. I’ve said it in– to our own people. Their jaws drop, but I said, “Look.”
Major Garrett: What do you mean? What are you saying?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I want to draw down to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have. Because we receive– we receive $3.8 billion a year. And I– I think that it’s time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining– military support.
Major Garrett: Can you give me a time table?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I said, let’s start now and do it over the next decade, over the next ten years, but I want to start now. I don’t want to wait for the next Congress. I want to start now.
Well-versed in American politics, the prime minister is keenly aware of declining support for Israel. According to a recent Pew survey, 60% of U.S. adults reported having an unfavorable view of Israel, up nearly 20 points in four years.
One of the big reasons: the war in Gaza, where according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 70,000 people have been killed. That includes civilians as well as Hamas terrorists.
Netanyahu attributes the reputational harm to Israel almost entirely to social media which he calls the eighth front of the war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: This, this is yours, right? (holds phone)
Major Garrett: Uh-huh.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: You’re not immune either. Because you can penetrate this machine. You can penetrate this– this little instrument. And you can say about Major Garrett anything you want. And I can paint you as a monster. And if I say it often enough, enough people will believe it.
Major Garrett: Do you believe Israel is at risk of losing this war on that social media front? And this is particularly, I believe, important in America for younger Americans, Republican and Democrat, scrolling through images. And they would use words like barbaric in Gaza and in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel has gone to unbelievable lengths to get innocent civilians out of harm’s way.
We text message millions of text messages to them– make millions of phone calls to them, pamphlets, leaflets, you name it, okay?
We have seen the deterioration of the support for Israel in the United States almost– I would say, it correlates almost 100% with the geometric rise of social media. And that by itself is not what caused it. And I– I don’t believe in, you know, in censoring them or anything.
But I’ll tell you what happened. We have several countries that basically manipulated social media. And they do it in a clever way. And that’s– that’s something that has hurt us badly.
Major Garrett: Is it your belief, Mr. Prime Minister, that nothing that Israel has done tactically or strategically has made no mistakes either in Gaza or the West Bank that have in their own way contributed to this negative impression of Israel, whether it’s on social media or someplace else?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: No, of course not. Look, it’s war. And in war, armies sometimes miss and civilians die. And these are mistakes, these are not deliberate things that happen. Israel is besieged on the media front, on the propaganda front, and we’ve not done well on the propaganda war
The International Criminal Court, which neither Israel nor the U.S. recognize, has accused the prime minister of war crimes for Israel’s conduct in Gaza, where he says he has not yet achieved one of his most important goals – disarming Hamas.
Major Garrett: Now what?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Somebody has to disarm them. Somebody has to then– demilitarize Gaza. I would say, disarm, demilitarize, deradicalize, because you don’t want these fanatics there.
Major Garrett: Is that Israel’s obligation? Or is that the international community’s obligation through the Board of Peace in some sort of–
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Major, Major, find me the countries who would do it. You know, if it comes down to us, then we’ll (NOISE) have to do it, but we’ll choose the time and the circumstances in which to do it because, you know, we’ve got a few other things. But we are not going to let Hamas– ever threaten Israel again. It’ll have to be done. Could be done the hard way, could be done the easy way. I always prefer the easy way, because unlike my– caricature image, having been to war, having seen the– the tragedy of war, having experienced it in my own family– you don’t readily dispatch people, young men and sometimes young women into the battlefield.
Major Garrett: You know, though, Mr. Prime Minister, there is an impression about you that is a hunger that people perceive in you for conflict.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: That’s funny, you know, because for years, I was considered, right, before the October 7th, I was considered perhaps the most restrained prime minister in Israel’s history. I was conceived as being, you know, politically tough but militarily very restrained. Obviously, it changed on October 7th, because they were gonna annihilate us. I didn’t think it was just an attack by Hamas. I saw it as it was, an attack by the Iran axis to try to annihilate us through a noose of death. And I said in the second day of the war, I said, “We’re going to change the Middle East.” We’re going to change this condition where they’re ganging up on us thinking they’re going to wipe out the one and only Jewish state, wipe out 3,500 years of Jewish history. It’s not gonna happen, not on my watch. And I said to the Israeli citizens, “Not on your watch.”
Produced by Arden Farhi, Andy Court, Marc Lieberman and Erin Lyall. Field producer, Michal Ben-Gal. Associate producers, Jane Greeley, Meghan Lisson, Cassidy McDonald and Georgia Rosenberg. Edited by Peter M. Berman and Warren Lustig. Assistant editor, Aisha Crespo.
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