Netanyahu And Trump Discuss Escalating Iran Threat; Third Call Since US Election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally came clean about speaking with the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump three times in a discussion which had primarily revolved around rising concerns with regard to Iran. He stated that he and President-elect Trump share the same perception of the Iran threat and that this conversation played a significant role in defining relations between the United States and Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement Monday that underscored the importance of his meetings with President Donald Trump. “The conversations were aimed to further tighten the strong alliance between Israel and the United States,” Netanyahu said. “We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its components and the danger posed by it.”

Netanyahu said this round of talks also focused on expansion of peace moves and other dimensions of Israel’s relation with the U.S. He described the two rounds of talks as “good and very important.” The two rounds of talks were good and very important, Netanyahu has said, indicating the importance of the moves in the realms of national security and diplomacy abroad.

International Criticism Of Israel

While talks with Trump were all about Iran, Netanyahu touched a second, closer-to-home issue-behavior: the alarming rise of violence against Jews. He specifically condemned the attack of Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last week, attributing it to two earlier incidents of antisemitic hostility toward Israel.

“There is a clear line that links two antisemitic attacks against Israel we have witnessed recently on Dutch soil,” Netanyahu said. “The legal, international criminal attack against Israel in The Hague and the terrorist and violent criminal attack against Israeli citizens on the streets of Amsterdam.”

Netanyahu quoted Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who compared the bloodshed in Amsterdam with legal procedures being held against the Jewish State in international courts. “In both cases, it is a dangerous form of antisemitism, aimed at weakening the rights of Jews and their state,” Sa’ar said. “To deprive our country of the right to defense, to deprive our citizens of the right to live.”

A Call To Action For Fighting Terrorism

Those Israeli leaders were clear on their stand on issues but stated that this was an issue that needed international action. “We have learned something from history: the unbridled attacks that begin against the Jews never end with the Jews,” Netanyahu said. “It is the responsibility of every government to act decisively against antisemitism.”

Reiterating Israel’s commitment to protect its citizens, Netanyahu said, “We will do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves and our citizens. We will never again allow the horrors of history to happen. We will never surrender—to hatred of the Jews or to terrorism.”

That is Netanyahu’s third conversation with Donald Trump in just a few days, reflecting the urgency with which both leaders are addressing security concerns posed by Iran and rising threats.

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