Transcript [00:00] We're here with Prime Minister Benjamin [00:01] Netanyahu. You know, we're facing a lot [00:04] of threats, not just military threats, [00:06] also uh diplomatic threats. We see just [00:09] recently that the UK decided to uh [00:12] impose sanctions on individuals, [00:14] organizations that promote building in [00:16] Judea and Samaria. We even saw during [00:18] the Biden administration, they also [00:19] tried to impose sanctions on individuals [00:22] uh who support building in Judea and [00:23] Samaria. How do we fight sanctions? This [00:26] new type of economic warfare uh that the [00:28] state of Israel is facing. [00:29] >> We're not going to allow a Palestinian [00:31] state and no embargo can change that. As [00:34] far as sanctions are concerned, I've [00:36] allotted [00:37] about 400 billion shekels addition to [00:41] the uh defense budget in order to ensure [00:44] that we have our own arms industry. So [00:47] we can't we can't be blackmailed. And uh [00:50] not only that, I wanted underground [00:52] industrial scale. And guess what? [00:55] Countries are coming to us. Not only the [00:57] Arab countries in the Middle East were [00:59] now coming to us because we turned the [01:00] tables on everyone. And Israel became [01:03] during my 3 years tenure. We came from [01:06] the worst massacre of Jews in the [01:07] history of since the Holocaust to being [01:10] the most powerful country in the Middle [01:11] East by far and even a global power in [01:14] certain aspects. uh that brings the [01:17] Arabs a lot of the countries to us both [01:20] in the Middle East and beyond the Middle [01:21] East and some of them well small [01:24] countries like India or countries in [01:27] Europe big countries and they say we [01:29] want to join up with you because it's [01:32] called peace through strength and guess [01:34] what strength brings alliances it brings [01:37] peace weakness retreat [01:41] you know bowing your head before this [01:43] pressure does the opposite so the way [01:45] you overcome sanctions is being very [01:49] strong, creating alternative supply [01:51] routes, alternative partners, and one [01:53] other thing, striking back. Yes, Britain [01:56] declared that it would have these [01:57] sanctions. They haven't yet affected [01:58] them, but they declared them. What did [02:00] we do in response? They were absolutely [02:02] shocked. We shut down their consulate in [02:04] Jerusalem. So, they know we mean [02:06] business. You know, the days when the [02:08] Jews can be intimidated or led to the [02:10] slaughter uh and then receive all the [02:13] vilifications that come with [02:16] appeasement, those days are over. I [02:18] speak up for the Jewish people. I do [02:20] that in the UN. I do that in the US [02:22] Congress. I do that in every meeting I [02:24] have with the leaders. And that's a [02:25] choice people have to say. [02:26] >> In your last term, you advanced a [02:29] package of judicial reforms. Ultimately, [02:32] there were big protests. you pulled back [02:35] the judicial reform package. Uh in [02:37] another term, would you advance another [02:39] judicial reform package? Do you still [02:41] believe in judicial reforms? And what [02:43] might you do differently? [02:44] >> Well, look, I think the essence of [02:45] modern democracy is the balance between [02:49] uh the three branches of government. [02:50] That's basically the the idea that was [02:53] produced in the American Revolution and [02:55] it's the model for all modern [02:56] democracies. that balance was derailed [02:59] completely in Israel in the last 25 [03:01] years because a new doctrine came in. [03:04] It's actually very old. It comes from [03:05] Plato. He said when he saw Socrates take [03:09] the uh the cup of poison, you know. He [03:12] said, "What's this thing democracy? The [03:14] uh you know the Athenian assembly in a [03:17] special committee said to Socrates, you [03:20] know, you're poisoning the youth, so [03:22] drink this cup of poison." And [03:25] 28-year-old Plato said, "This is absurd. [03:27] This idea of democracy. You know what we [03:30] need is uh you know an ideal state [03:34] governed by the philosopher." And who is [03:36] the philosopher? Plato. So we have [03:38] people who are raised above the people. [03:41] They know what the people need. And this [03:44] was actually the model of uh the [03:46] totalitarian state, the polit bureau and [03:48] so on. This was the idea. It was a [03:51] horrible idea and George Washington [03:53] threw it to the dogs. He just threw it [03:56] away. And he said, "No one is raised [03:59] above the law." And no one is raised [04:01] above the people. Democracy is the rule [04:03] of the people. It's we the people. Not [04:06] we the judges, we the people. In Israel, [04:10] this was completely derailed. And we [04:12] have to bring it back. We don't have to [04:13] crush the judiciary, but we have to make [04:16] sure it doesn't crush the uh legislative [04:19] branch, the Knesset or the executive [04:22] branch, the government. So, we had a big [04:24] fight on this and uh you know, in the [04:26] last year, I think we sort of recovered [04:28] and did this efficiently. They said, you [04:32] know, to these people, they say, well, [04:34] you're going to appoint people, who the [04:36] hell are you? He was just elected. [04:38] Doesn't give you the power to appoint [04:40] the head of the Mossad. Yes, it does. [04:44] And we had to fight and we won. And I [04:45] brought an incredible Mossad head, a [04:49] Roman GM. We got it through and we said, [04:51] "Okay, we'll appoint also a new head for [04:54] the Shabbach, the Shinbet." And they [04:56] said, "No, you can't do that." Dead, [04:58] David Zini. And we did. We got that. And [05:02] so it goes on. So I think we've learned [05:04] a few things on how to do this. And yes, [05:06] I want to correct this imbalance. I [05:08] don't want to destroy any arm. I just [05:11] want to have the balance that [05:13] paradoxically Israel enjoyed for the [05:15] first few decades of its life. We have [05:17] to bring it back. Otherwise, we'll have [05:20] judicial dictatorship. No, we need real [05:23] democracy. [05:24] >> Bill Clinton famously said before an [05:26] election that it's the economy, stupid. [05:28] You've led a economic revolution in this [05:31] country. You've opened up the free [05:33] market, but still there are many people [05:34] who live in this country and see the [05:36] rising cost of living. Many people find [05:38] it hard to buy a home. Many people find [05:40] it hard to close their bills at the end [05:42] of the month. What's the next stage of [05:45] the financial revolution Israel and how [05:47] do you make living in Israel more [05:49] affordable? [05:49] >> Well, first of all, you touch on real [05:51] things. People are concerned with this [05:54] and rightly so because housing prices [05:57] rose 20% [05:59] during the Bennett Laid government. [06:02] And they said, "No, you can't bring it [06:03] down." I said, "Of course we can." So, [06:05] we built hundreds of thousands of homes [06:07] and apartments, hundreds of thousands. [06:10] And as you increase the supply, you [06:12] reduce the price. And for the first time [06:15] in many years, prices went down. Housing [06:17] prices went down. Uh, inflation is [06:20] judged by inflation. We inherited from [06:22] the Bennett Laid government an inflation [06:24] rate of 5.3%. [06:27] It's now down to 1 and a.5%. It's [06:30] probably I think it's the lowest or [06:32] close to the lowest in the western [06:33] world. Now you won't hear about it in [06:35] you know the the [06:37] the what what do they call them [06:39] mainstream? They're not mainstream. The [06:41] politicized uh uh you know channel 11 12 [06:44] 13 and so on said they there's no [06:46] improvement. There is vast improvement [06:48] but it's not enough because there's one [06:51] response to this. It's called [06:53] competition competition. Competition. [06:56] And for three years now, I've been [06:58] trying to get another appointed, another [07:00] appointment which I still haven't got [07:02] through because the deep state really is [07:04] fighting this one. And that is change [07:06] the head of the uh it's called the [07:10] competition authority except the person [07:13] who's there doesn't believe in the [07:15] competition that I believe in. So we'll [07:17] have to change that too. We put in uh [07:20] laws, new things like what is good in [07:22] Europe is good here. You know, you're [07:24] buying cornflakes in Europe. It's [07:25] cheaper than the one made here by a [07:27] local a local producer. Why? Because in [07:29] Israel, there are special, I don't [07:33] molecules in the air that say that you [07:34] have to have only an Israeli produced [07:37] monopoly that produces cornflakes. No, [07:39] you don't. You can buy now cornflakes [07:42] from Europe and a thousand other [07:44] products in Europe. What's good for [07:46] Europe is good for Israel. And we just [07:48] passed what's good for America is good [07:50] in Israel. Competition. Competition. [07:53] competition. I revolutionized the [07:55] Israeli economy from a socialist [07:56] economy. [07:58] And before I did that, by the way, there [08:00] were no highrises in Tel Aviv. Now, you [08:02] know, it all looks like, you know, [08:04] forests. But not only in Tel Aviv. You [08:06] see it in Deona. You see it in the [08:09] negative. You see it in Lon. You see it [08:11] in Yoknam. You see it in Aula where I've [08:13] just been. The whole country is [08:15] responding to the reforms that we did. [08:17] And after three years of war, the IMF, [08:21] the International Monetary Fund, just [08:23] said that Israel's economy is the [08:26] fastest growing economy in the OECD. The [08:29] economist that really doesn't like me. I [08:31] mean, they're really it's the most [08:33] important economic uh uh publication in [08:37] the world. They said that Israel is one [08:40] of the three most dynamic countries [08:43] economies in the world. That's after [08:44] three years of war. So we must be doing [08:47] something right. And I say to all those [08:49] who are listening to us, if you want to [08:51] continue this trend, if you want to [08:52] change the change you want, has to be a [08:55] good change. And we've changed the [08:57] country from socialism to free market, a [09:00] free market, robust economy. We brought [09:03] Nvidia here. We're bringing the biggest [09:05] companies in the world. They're coming [09:06] here because they see what I'm seeing. [09:08] They see what we're doing. Yes, there [09:10] are problems. Yes, we can solve them. [09:12] And I think Israel has a brilliant [09:14] future both by assuring our security, [09:17] assuring the expansion of peace and [09:20] definitely assuring the expansion of [09:22] free markets and the growth of our [09:24] economy and jobs and investment. [09:26] >> Israel's always understood that it had [09:28] to have a qualitative military edge to [09:30] defeat its enemies on the physical [09:32] battlefield. It seems like our enemies [09:34] have the qualitative mil military edge [09:36] on the information battlefield. What can [09:39] Israel do to gain that qualitative edge [09:41] and how can Israel ultimately win the [09:42] war of narratives? [09:44] >> Well, I I think that uh [09:47] three countries basically maybe now a [09:50] fourth and fifth have uh discovered the [09:53] use of bots. Okay. Uh what does do bots [09:57] do? They can flood the social network [10:00] with bots that poison the minds of young [10:03] Americans and young Europeans against [10:05] Israel. And they've done it fairly [10:07] successfully, I have to say. Uh now you [10:10] can say you can lament it. You can uh [10:12] you know you could say wow it's horrible [10:14] and so on which it is or you can fight. [10:17] Now if you fight on this battlefield you [10:19] know if you're faced with with drones [10:23] fight with drones if you're faced with [10:25] uh uh aircraft or missiles fight with [10:28] Iron Dome and fight with attack [10:30] aircraft. Uh so I've instructed the uh [10:33] the AI uh center that I formed a [10:36] national center uh just as I formed [10:39] before that a cyber center and Israel [10:40] became the second cyber power in the [10:43] world. Tiny Israel receives more [10:47] investments in cyber startups, foreign [10:50] investments than any country in the [10:52] world except America. More than anyone [10:54] else. Uh and we are a cyber power. We [10:56] have to be an AI power. Part of that [10:58] power is fighting this battle on the [11:01] social networks and we intend to do that [11:04] and we intend to win here too. It's [11:06] possible. We have the brains and we have [11:08] the resolve because um we're not going [11:10] to let them rule the day and create [11:13] alternative alliances too. Keep America [11:16] always and we'll have to resist [11:18] pressures because in two years I doubt [11:21] that there'll be I doubt there will ever [11:23] be a friend like Donald Trump in the [11:26] White House. uh ever. Uh but first of [11:30] all, use the two years that we have to [11:32] finish the job to uh expand the Abraham [11:35] Accords beyond anybody's imagination [11:38] even, but at the same time be prepared [11:41] for a change and be able to resist the [11:43] pressure. I think I've shown the [11:45] capacity to do that, but I want to build [11:48] also supporting systems to fight the [11:52] battle for public opinion, too. I don't [11:53] give up on America. [11:55] I was going to say I don't give up on [11:57] Europe, but given what we see in France [12:00] and Britain, uh you know, they've [12:03] succumbed. They're peasers. They're [12:06] weak. Uh and they uh they not only [12:09] succumb before the lies, they propagate [12:12] them. Uh Mcronone called me on the day [12:16] of uh October 7th and he said, "Bi, my [12:21] friend, we'll work towards a diplomatic [12:23] solution." And I said, "No, Emanuel, you [12:26] won't. There is no diplomatic solution [12:29] with these monsters, Kamas. And if we [12:33] don't destroy Hamas here, [12:35] you will soon see Hamas on the streets [12:38] of Paris." That's exactly what we're [12:40] seeing today. And you can see the the [12:44] red green alliance taking out countries [12:46] as big as uh much bigger than Israel, [12:49] France, Britain. And if this red green [12:52] alliance that we have now, the lefts in [12:54] Israel joining with Mahmud Abbas and [12:58] Mansur Abbas and Ahmedib [13:01] uh because Gadazinot and Liberman and [13:04] Yoy Gulan, they don't have a government [13:06] without those the support of the these [13:10] Arab country parties that are opposed to [13:13] our existence. If that red green [13:16] alliance wins in Israel too, [13:19] our future is in doubt. So when I talk [13:22] about it, I'm not talking in a spin. [13:24] It's a fact. They cannot fight. They [13:26] will not fight and they'll succumb to [13:28] all the pressures that may come from [13:30] America in two years. They'll just get [13:31] out of Judea Samaria. They'll build a [13:33] Palestinian state. They won't take out [13:35] Iran. So it'll be a Palestinian state [13:39] governed by Iran right next to where you [13:41] live. and it's coming to a theater near [13:44] you unless you do something about it. [13:46] They'll have the interior ministry and [13:48] they'll do hundreds of thousands of uh [13:52] uniting of families, Palestinian [13:53] families and they'll change the balance [13:56] in Israel. And if you want to make sure [13:58] that you have a free country, a Jewish [14:00] state with room for the minorities with [14:02] rights for everyone, then we have to [14:04] make sure that they don't govern. We [14:06] have to make sure that we have a real [14:08] democracy and not one that will censor [14:11] the social networks to shut down uh you [14:14] know channel 14 uh shut down Galisa. We [14:17] shut you down too. You're not [14:20] subservient. Uh that's not my position. [14:23] Never was. I want a marketplace of ideas [14:27] because I think once people are exposed [14:29] to the truth, they choose wisely. And [14:31] the truth right now is that's your [14:33] choice. either the unity or the alliance [14:37] between President Trump and me or the [14:39] alliance between Gazi Eisenkot and the [14:41] Islamist parties. [14:42] >> This week you just received a very [14:44] powerful endorsement from US President [14:46] Donald Trump. Much of that endorsement [14:49] focused on Iran and tackling the Iranian [14:51] regime. Do you see an imminent return to [14:54] military conflict? And do you believe [14:56] that ultimately the regime could be [14:58] collapsed only through military [15:00] conflict? [15:01] >> Look, we've battered them. We hammer [15:03] them, they're beaten, they're crippled. [15:06] Uh they're fighting for the last breath. [15:09] So the answer is yes. I think it can be [15:11] brought down and that changes history. [15:14] Uh because as long as they're there, [15:17] battered as they are, they'll try to [15:19] regroup, reconstitute themselves, [15:22] build again that atomic bomb program [15:25] that we stopped them um just less than a [15:28] year ago. It's like cancer. You're going [15:29] to take out a lump of cancer, which we [15:31] did in knocking out their nuclear [15:33] program, but cancer can come back. So, [15:36] the only way that we can make sure that [15:38] Israel is safe, that we guarantee the [15:40] future for our country, for our [15:42] children, for our grandchildren, is by [15:44] removing this regime. And President [15:46] Trump basically called the Israeli [15:48] public the other day and said, "Hey, [15:50] listen. [15:51] I'm committed to doing it, but I'll only [15:53] do it with this prime minister." You [15:56] talked about expanding the circle of [15:57] peace and one of the things about the [15:59] Abraham Accords which was amazing was it [16:00] removed the Palestinian veto on peace in [16:04] the Middle East. Uh your policy seemed [16:06] to have changed throughout the years [16:08] regarding Palestinian statehood. Back in [16:10] 2009 you said in the Barilan speech [16:12] under certain conditions that there [16:14] could potentially be a demilitarized [16:16] Palestinian state. In 2020, you stood [16:19] next to Donald Trump and un unrolled the [16:21] deal of the century uh in which you said [16:25] that it offers a potential pathway to a [16:28] future state. In this election, you've [16:30] said that the choice is either Yamin or [16:32] Palestine, the right-wing or Palestinian [16:35] state. Has your position changed on [16:36] Palestinian statethood? No, but I have [16:39] to tell you that I maneuvered I think [16:41] fairly deafly and the left accuses me [16:43] and in this they're right that I [16:45] prevented a Palestinian state because [16:47] three American presidents wanted one, [16:50] Clinton, Obama and Biden. And I said no, [16:55] it's not going to happen. But I had to [16:57] uh maneuver I think very carefully. And [16:58] when Trump said what he said, he put [17:01] conditions uh from here to uh Singapore. [17:05] Those 12 steps that the Palestinians uh [17:08] you know, they'd have to democratize, [17:09] they'd have to become uh I was going to [17:11] say Sweden, but Sweden has become a bit [17:13] Islamist lately. I mean, they'd have to [17:15] become a model democracy, right? And all [17:17] these other things. It's not going to [17:19] happen. He knew that. I know that. So, [17:22] I've been opposed to a Palestinian [17:24] state. I've been able to prevent it [17:27] because I've been around and all these [17:30] uh all my opponents until very recently [17:33] accused me correctly of preventing a [17:37] Palestinian state, which I'll continue [17:38] to uh to do because a Palestinian state [17:41] is a mortal danger to the state of [17:42] Israel. It'll be simply a frontal [17:44] position for Iran. And since Gaddy [17:46] Eisenot, my chief opponent, has said [17:49] that he can live with a nuclear Iran, I [17:52] can't live with a nuclear Iran. As long [17:54] as I'm prime minister of Israel, there [17:56] won't be Iran a nuclear Iran. [17:59] >> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thank [18:00] you so much for being with us. [18:02] >> Thank you. at you.
