The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refrained from denying a recent New York Times report stating that U.S. President Donald Trump blocked a planned Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Instead, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) issued a statement highlighting Netanyahu’s longstanding efforts against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“For over a decade, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has led the global campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, even when the threat was belittled and labeled ‘political spin,’ and the Prime Minister was called ‘paranoid,'” the PMO stated. “The Prime Minister has led countless overt and covert operations in the campaign against Iran’s nuclear program; it is only due to these operations that Iran does not currently possess a nuclear arsenal.”
The New York Times reported that Israel had developed plans to attack Iran’s nuclear sites in May, aiming to delay Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon by at least a year. However, the success of such an operation would have required U.S. support for both defensive and logistical reasons. After months of internal debate, President Trump decided to pursue diplomatic negotiations with Iran instead of supporting military action.
Israeli opposition leaders have criticized Netanyahu following the report. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Netanyahu of lacking decisive action, stating that the current government’s approach is to “threaten, threaten, threaten, and then leak that he intended but was not allowed.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid also criticized Netanyahu, suggesting that decisive action against Iran’s oil infrastructure could have been more effective.
Despite the criticism, Netanyahu has maintained that Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, emphasizing the importance of both overt and covert actions taken over the years to delay Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
