Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Newsmax on Friday that Iran's axis of terror in the Middle East, including the Hamas terrorists in Gaza, "has been broken," adding that Israel is very close to ending the war.
Netanyahu made the remarks in an exclusive interview with "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." He spoke about defeating the three H's of Iran's terror proxies — Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis — in order to bring peace to the Middle East.
"We smashed that axis in this war. We smashed it a lot. We've hit Hamas very hard and are close to finishing it," Netanyahu said.
In November, Netanyahu estimated that the Israeli military had killed roughly 20,000 Hamas terrorists in the Israel-Hamas war at that point. The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza, does not release statistics on how many Hamas fighters have been killed.
"So the Iran axis has been broken. Now we have an opportunity by preventing them from getting to nuclear weapons by completing the dismantling of the Hamas axis to bring a different Middle East," Netanyahu said.
"That opens up the possibility of peace. ... But to do that, to win the peace, you first have to win the war. And we can win the war very quickly and get a new future here — a new, you know, a new birth of hope."
At the White House on Tuesday alongside Netanyahu, President Donald Trump unveiled a plan to bring peace but made it clear that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu credited Trump with setting Iran back 10 years with his sanctions during his first term.
"The actions that successive governments, my governments have led ... we stalled them. And then President Trump chipped in and really banged them with economic sanctions and other things. And that set them back, I'd say, about 10 years," Netanyahu said. "So we stalled them, but we didn't stop them."
Netanyahu added that Iran is "days away" from achieving the enriched uranium needed for the core of a nuclear weapon.
"But there are other components, many other components, and they still are not there. But there's no question that they'd like to be there," he added. "And, therefore, one of the things the president and I agreed upon ... was that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon. And I think the fact that we have this — his leadership and our partnership — I think helps ensure that doesn't happen because it's not merely a danger to Israel.
"You know, the mobs in Iran, you know what they chant? 'Death to America, death to Israel.' America is the great Satan; Israel is the small Satan. ... We're the closest Satan to them. We stand in their way," the prime minister said.
"But they're really out to blackmail you and to destroy America's position in the Middle East and beyond. ... By fighting the Iran axis, we're actually fighting America's enemies. Our victory will be your victory and our successes."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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