Netanyahu says he didn’t ask for Trump’s approval before striking Iran

“There are moments when you have to know how to tell even the president of the United States what we stand for,” said Netanyahu.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he informed President Donald Trump in advance of Israel’s planned attack on Iran but did not seek U.S. approval, while reaffirming that Israel would continue acting against threats from Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

Speaking at a local government conference, Netanyahu said Israel viewed Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat and would take action to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“There are moments when you have to know how to tell even the president of the United States what we stand for,” Netanyahu said.

Referring to Israel’s operation against Iran, he added: “When I came to President Trump before Operation Rising Lion, I did not ask for permission. I simply informed him of our plan. To my delight, he also joined toward the end in a very important action.”

Netanyahu said Israel’s military campaign had removed immediate dangers facing the country.

“Had we not acted in Rising Lion and Roaring Lion, Iran would already have had atomic bombs to destroy us,” he said. “We pushed that away. We pushed away the immediate threat of thousands of ballistic missiles.”

The prime minister also addressed Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza, saying Israeli forces currently control most of the territory.

“We will be the first in the world to solve the problem of explosive drones. The most important thing we did in this war was to break the barrier of fear. We were attacked horribly in the October 7 massacre. Today, we occupy almost 70% of the Gaza Strip and strangle Hamas,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu reiterated that Israel intends to maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon to prevent attacks by Hezbollah.

He said the security buffer would remain in place “as long as I am prime minister.”

The prime minister also recounted previous disagreements with U.S. leaders over military operations, saying he had informed former President Joe Biden that the Israel Defense Forces would enter Rafah in Gaza despite the president’s objections.

His remarks focused on Israel’s military posture toward Iran and its continued operations against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, which Netanyahu said are intended to address ongoing security threats facing the country.