Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has endorsed the plan presented by US President Donald Trump as the only viable solution to securing a different future for Gaza, Israel, and the surrounding areas, calling it “right on the dot.”
Speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu emphasized his strong alignment with the US administration. He mentioned his recent discussion with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, highlighting their shared vision for transforming the Middle East.
Netanyahu said, “We changed the Middle East. Now, comes President Trump and Secretary Rubio, who’s a great friend of Israel as well. I’ve seen him over the years and we had a great discussion today and we talked about how do we complete the change in the Middle East. We have the greatest friend of Israel in the White House now. We see eye to eye on the main tasks that we have to accomplish, and we’re in a position to change the Middle East and give Israel the kind of horizon, the kind of hope, the kind of security, and the kind of peace that would have been unimaginable, and in fact was unimaginable from the day of the founding of the State of Israel. We’ve had great victories in the past.”
He pointed to Israel’s goals in Gaza: securing the release of hostages, dismantling Hamas, and ensuring long-term security for the region. Netanyahu reaffirmed Trump’s plan as the only way forward for a sustainable future in Gaza and beyond.
“The most important one was the six-day war. But, the possibilities that loom today before us have never been before us before, have never been available to us as they are now and we intend to pursue them to the full. We see eye to eye with the US administration, President Trump and his administration, first of all, on accomplishing the immediate three goals that we have in Gaza: One is to achieve the release of all our hostages, the second, as I said, is to destroy Hamas, the third is to ensure that Gaza has a different future, that we don’t just go back, same old, same old, same old and then I have to say that President Trump has presented a bold new vision, and the only plan that I think can work to enable a different future for the people of Gaza, for the people of Israel, for the surrounding areas. Why not give Gazans a choice? Everybody said this is the largest open-air prison in the world, not because of us, we let people leave,” he added.
Netanyahu stressed that individuals in Gaza should have the option to leave if they wish. He noted that 150,000 people have emigrated in recent years, many by bribing their way out. He accused Hamas of preventing civilians from leaving the conflict zone by using force.
“In fact, if you want to know, over the last couple of years, two years, I think, 150,000 Gazans left. You know how they left? Because they bribed their way out, not to us. They bribed their way out. The rich could leave. But if other people wanted to leave, give them a choice, not forcible eviction, not ethnic cleansing. In a war zone, people leave. We try to get the population to leave, to get them out of harm’s way, and Hamas, with rifles, with gunfire, tried to prevent them from leaving. So, we moved them around so that they would get out of harm’s way. But if people want to leave, if they want to emigrate, it’s their choice. And I think President Trump’s plan is right on the dot. It’s the right plan, so that’s Gaza.”
Turning to Lebanon, Netanyahu highlighted Israel’s recent military operations against Hezbollah, which he accused of planning an attack similar to Hamas’s strategy. He asserted that Israel had dismantled Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure near its border and called on Lebanese authorities to ensure the militant group no longer posed a threat.
“In Lebanon, we’ve established a ceasefire, as you know, after removing Hezbollah that had planned a ground invasion even worse than Hamas, from terror tunnels and other infrastructure, underground infrastructure that they put right next to our border. We got rid of that. And we said to the Lebanese, now it’s your job to make sure that Hezbollah is dismantled and certainly doesn’t threaten Israel anymore.”
Netanyahu welcomed Lebanon’s ceasefire and President Joseph Aoun’s leadership while urging the Lebanese army to take responsibility for neutralizing Hezbollah’s influence.
“We welcome the ceasefire. We welcome President Aoun’s presidency and I hope that the Lebanese army, reconstituted, does the job. But if it doesn’t, we will do the job. We have decided on a policy of continuous enforcement. We will not let those violations take place and we will not let Israel or Israeli targets or Israeli soldiers by attacking us from Lebanon that has ended,” he added.