Netanyahu: military action against Iran is harder the longer one waits

A credible military threat against Iran is the best deterrent against its nuclear ambitions, but it becomes harder the longer one waits, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a security conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night.

“I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. This is not only an Israeli interest, but it is also an American interest, it is an interest of the whole world,” he said.

Netanyahu spoke just days after the reports surfaced that Iran had increased its enrichments uranium production to 84%, leaving only a small gap before it hits weapons-grade production at 90%.
“The only thing that has reliably prevented rogue states from developing nuclear weapons is a credible military threat or credible military action.”

Prime Minister benjamin Netanyahu

“The only thing that has reliably prevented rogue states from developing nuclear weapons is a credible military threat or credible military action,” Netanyahu told the Hertog National Security Conference.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and cabinet secretary Yossi Fuchs attend the weekly cabinet meeting in the prime minister’s office Jerusalem, February 19, 2023. (credit: Abir Sultan/Pool via REUTERS)

Netanyahu says normalization with Saudi Arabia possible

Looking at the region, Netanyahu said he believed it was possible to normalize ties with Saudi Arabia, noting that such a step would end the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Israel has set its sights on Saudi Arabia as the next natural country to join the Abraham Accords, under whose rubric it normalized ties with four Arab nations.

“I believe that we can reach a breakthrough if the Saudi leadership decides that they want to be a part of it officially. In an unofficial way, they are already part” of it, Netanyahu said.