[Video below.] Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel’s military campaign against Iran was launched because the Islamic Republic was dangerously close to obtaining nuclear weapons, while also warning that providing advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey would threaten regional stability.

Speaking during an appearance on Newsmax’s The Record With Greta Van Susteren, Netanyahu said Iran’s nuclear program had reached a critical stage that left Israel with little choice but to act.

“We pushed that immediate threat away. We destroyed a lot of their infrastructure, a lot of their centrifuges, a lot of the associated factories and facilities that they use for manufacturing nuclear weapons,” the prime minister said.

Netanyahu also highlighted Israel’s efforts to cripple Iran’s nuclear program by targeting the scientists leading it.

“We knocked out 20 of their top nuclear scientists – 20 of their top nuclear scientists. So we pushed it back considerably.”

Even so, he cautioned that while Iran’s immediate capabilities have been significantly degraded, the regime’s determination to acquire nuclear weapons has not disappeared.

“It’s like when you excise a lump of cancer from your body, you know it may come back. But you know one thing: If you wouldn’t do it, you could die,” he remarked. “And Israel was obviously placed with an existential threat. And America was threatened with a very great danger.”

Netanyahu warned that a regime whose supporters openly chant “death to America” cannot be allowed to possess intercontinental ballistic missiles, especially if those missiles could eventually carry nuclear warheads, saying such a development would endanger “every single American.”

The prime minister also expressed strong opposition to reports that the United States is considering supplying Turkey with F-35 stealth fighter jets.

“I think it’s a mistake,” Netanyahu stated to Newsmax.

He pointed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s policies toward Greece, Turkey’s continued control of northern Cyprus, and repeated hostile rhetoric directed at Israel.

“His number two a few days ago said the Jewish state has no place among the nations,” Netanyahu added. “If this regime that often condemns America and often attacks America verbally should have the weapons like the F-35, I think it will greatly destabilize the region.”

Despite disagreeing with President Donald Trump on that issue, Netanyahu emphasized that the relationship between the two leaders remains exceptionally close.

He noted that Trump has “said it couldn’t be better.”

“But as you say, friends can have agreements and disagreements,” he acknowledged. “We agree on just about everything, but there are areas of disagreement. I just mentioned one of them, which is providing F-35s to Turkey.”

Netanyahu said the strength of the U.S.-Israel alliance allows both leaders to speak candidly with one another.

“I feel confident enough in our friendship, in our alliance, that I can tell him what I think is important for the interests of protecting Israel,” he explained. “And he tells me what he thinks is important for the interests of the United States. This is a real friendship, a real alliance.”

Turning to the war in Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel and the United States remain united in rejecting any arrangement that would leave Hamas in power.

“They don’t want to disarm, and they certainly don’t want Gaza to be demilitarized. They just want to continue tyrannizing the Gaza population there and launching terrorist raids into Israel,” he observed. “They can’t do that right now because we’re enveloping them with our brave soldiers.”

Netanyahu concluded the interview by praising the United States for what he described as its historic role in defending freedom around the world.

“The United States of America has been the sentinel of security and peace and freedom,” he declared. “And if it weren’t for the United States, Nazism could have won. Stalinism could have won,” he said, adding, “And we would have entered into a dark age for God knows how many hundreds of years.”

He closed by expressing Israel’s appreciation for America’s longstanding support.

“The United States has been the guardian of freedom, and we in Israel, a free democratic country, we salute the United States.”

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{Matzav.com}