Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the opening gala of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations’ 51st Leadership Mission to Israel on Sunday night in Jerusalem.
The Prime Minister spoke about his recent trip to the United States and his meeting with President Trump. “I just had very important meeting with President Trump. The focus was on Iran. The President is determined to exhaust the possibilities of achieving an agreement," Netanyahu said.
Addressing the Iranian issue, Netanyahu stated, “I expressed my skepticism of any deal with Iran because Iran is reliable on one thing - they lie and cheat."
He outlined conditions that he said must be included in any agreement. “First, all enriched material has to leave Iran. Second, there should be no enrichment capability. Not just stop the process but dismantle the infrastructure that allows you to enrich. Third, need to deal also with the question of ballistic missiles. And the fourth is to dismantle is the axis of terror of Iran. And finally, distrust and verify. Must have effective inspections for all of the above."
Turning to Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel had three goals in the war: “return the hostages, disarm and dismantle Hamas military capabilities, and third dismantle Hamas governing capabilities. The first has been achieved."
“Hamas must give up its weapons. The weapon that does the most damage is the AK-47. Assault weapons. There are 60,000 such weapons, they must go," he said.
“First disarm Hamas. Second, demilitarize Gaza. We dismantled about 150 km of 500 km of tunnels. We’re giving the President’s plan a chance. It can be done the easy or hard way. We hope the easy way. Because we know the human cost of war. But that goal must be achieved. And one way or another it will be.
“Gaza will not pose a threat ever again to the State of Israel," Netanyahu declared.
On the economy, the Prime Minister said, “After 2 years of war, our economy is growing rapidly, our stock market is at an all-time high. The shekel vs the dollar is almost at a 30-year high. Inflation is going down."
He added, “Israel is the number 2 cyber power in the world. Israel receives more foreign investment in cybertech than any country aside from the United States. Will do the same in AI and quantum. Israel is a juggernaut of innovation."
“Israel is a very strong country coming out of the war. Strong militarily, strong economically, strong technologically. The United States just issued a memorandum, describing its vision of alliances, and it called Israel ‘the model ally.’ We are willing to fight for ourselves."
Netanyahu expressed appreciation for American support and addressed the issue of military aid. “With deep appreciation for American support over the years from both parties, we can afford to phase out the military aid. Israel will support itself and does. Over the next ten years, Israel will move from aid to partnership, with the United States. Our goal is to build an independent arms industry in Israel."
Addressing antisemitism, Netanyahu said, “People are shocked by the rise of antisemitism. But it’s not shocking if you look at the cycle of history."
“But the great change of Jewish history, is the independent state with the power to roll back those attacks. Fight back. Do not cower, fight back. People respect those who respect themselves. We have to fight back. Silence will not help. To defeat antisemitism, we have to fight it."