Netanyahu and Trump
Netanyahu and TrumpKobi Gideon

In an interview with CBS, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said President-elect Donald Trump supports the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

"I know Donald Trump. I know him very well," Netanyahu said in an excerpt published over the weekend. "His attitude, his support for Israel is clear. He feels very warmly about the Jewish state, about the Jewish people, and about Jewish people. There is no question about that."

Trump has also denied claims that he is anti-Semitic, describing himself as "a lifelong supporter and true friend of Israel."

Regarding his relationship with US President Barack Obama, Netanyahu said, "We had differences of opinion with President Obama, I had differences of opinion with Obama, the most well known of course is Iran. Suppose we had the greatest of personal chemistry. You think I wouldn't stand up against the Iran deal if I thought as I did that it endangers the existence of Israel? Of course I would."

"As far as President-elect Trump, I look forward to speaking with him about what to do about this bad deal. Now, I oppose the deal because it doesn’t prevent Iran from getting nukes, it paves the way for Iran to get nuclear weapons. And the problem isn't so much that Iran will break the deal, but that Iran will keep it, because it just can walk in within a decade - and even less and certainly within 12 years - can just walk in to industrial scale enrichment of uranium to make the core for an arsenal of nuclear weapons," Netanyahu explained.

The full interview will be aired on 60 Minutes, on Sunday evening.