Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on Thursday strongly denied accusations that he steered President Trump into a confrontation with Iran, insisting that the president acted independently and solely in the interest of the United States.

Addressing reporters, Netanyahu rejected the premise outright. “Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do? Come on,” Netanyahu said during a press conference. “President Trump always makes his decisions on what he thinks is good for America.”

He firmly pushed back against suggestions that Israel had pulled the United States into the ongoing conflict with Tehran, stressing instead the close working relationship between the two countries while making clear that Trump charted his own course.

“I didn’t have to convince him,” Netanyahu said, referring to prior discussions the two leaders had regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

Netanyahu described the cooperation between Washington and Israel as tightly coordinated, noting collaboration at both the military and intelligence levels. He added that their joint efforts are producing rapid results, saying they are “achieving goals at lightning speed.”

Pointing to Trump’s earlier actions on Iran, Netanyahu noted that the president’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement during his first term came without any outside pressure.

“In his first term in office, he didn’t need any convincing,” Netanyahu said. “He said the Iranian nuclear deal was the worst deal that he’d ever seen, and he walked out of it.”

Recalling a meeting at Mar-a-Lago ahead of Trump’s return to office, Netanyahu said the president himself initiated the discussion about Iran.

“The first thing he said to me was, ‘Bibi, we’ve got to make sure that Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons,’” Netanyahu said.

“He said that to me — I didn’t say it to him.”

Netanyahu also issued a stark warning about Iran’s leadership, characterizing them as driven by extreme ideology and cautioning about the potential consequences if they were to acquire nuclear capabilities.

“Just imagine what they would do … if these lunatics had nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them to every American city and every European city,” he said.

“This is a danger for the entire world.”

He further highlighted Iran’s past involvement in attacks against Americans, referencing incidents such as the 1983 bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and assaults on U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“They tried to assassinate the American president, Donald Trump, not once, but twice,” he said.

Netanyahu added that support for confronting Iran extends beyond the United States and Israel, saying that numerous world leaders privately share the same position, even if they do not express it publicly.

He concluded by commending Trump’s stance on Iran, saying the global community is indebted to the president for taking on the regime.

“We see eye to eye on that — President Trump and I, Israel and America,” Netanyahu said.

{Matzav.com}