Netanyahu: Iran, not Israel, responsible for US decision to impose blockade

Prime Minister Netanyahu endorses Trump’s plan to blockade Iran, adding that Israel will continue to fight Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel supports President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a naval blockade on Iran, while emphasizing that Israeli forces will continue military operations in Lebanon as part of a broader campaign against threats on multiple fronts.

Speaking at the start of the weekly government meeting, Netanyahu said Israel was in “constant coordination” with Washington and described US-Israeli cooperation during the current crisis as unprecedented.

“I spoke yesterday with Vice President JD Vance,” Netanyahu said. “He made it clear that the central issue is the removal of all enriched material and ensuring there is no more enrichment.”

Netanyahu said Vance briefed him on what he described as the collapse of negotiations with Iran, which he blamed on Tehran.

According to Netanyahu, the talks broke down after Iran failed to uphold an understanding that the ceasefire was predicated on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He said the United States responded by moving to impose a naval blockade.

“Since Iran violated the rules, President Trump decided to impose a naval blockade on them,” Netanyahu said. “We, of course, support this firm stance.”

Netanyahu also dismissed any suggestion of friction between Jerusalem and Washington.

“The talk as if there is a disconnect between us is the complete opposite,” he said, adding that Israel was coordinating daily with Trump and senior US officials.

Alongside his comments on Iran, Netanyahu said fighting in Lebanon remained active and had recently been concentrated in the border town of Bint Jbeil.

He said he had visited Israeli forces in the security zone in southern Lebanon on Sunday and praised reservists and commanders for what he described as major operational gains.

Netanyahu said Israeli forces were pushing enemy positions farther from the border, expanding a deeper security zone, and destroying “terrorist villages” and launch areas near Israeli communities.

He said the campaign was aimed at preventing both cross-border infiltration and anti-tank missile fire, while also addressing the threat of rocket attacks.

“We will not rest until we restore their security,” Netanyahu said, referring to residents of northern Israel.

Netanyahu made the remarks hours before the start of Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day in Israel, linking the current conflict to the country’s founding ethos and its pledge to prevent another catastrophe against the Jewish people.

Recalling a meeting with Holocaust survivors who were set to light memorial torches later in the day, Netanyahu said the difference between the Holocaust era and the present was that Israel now had the power to defend itself.

“Today, the tables have turned: We are the ones hunting our oppressors,” he said.

Netanyahu said Israeli military action against Iran had prevented what he said was an existential threat, naming Iranian nuclear sites including Isfahan, Natanz, Fordow and Bushehr.

He said those sites could have become symbols of destruction “like Auschwitz, Majdanek, and Sobibor” had Israel failed to act.

“The State of Israel is at the peak of its power,” Netanyahu said, adding that the current campaign was proof that the pledge of “Never Again” was backed not only by words, but by Israeli military force and national resolve.