The threat of a nuclear Iran took precedence Sunday in statements delivered in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Israel and the US stand together against the threat from Iran, we agreed that the Ayatollahs must not have nuclear weapons. We agreed that Iranian aggression in the region must be pushed back,” Netanyahu said.
“Iran is the sole source of instability here. It will not have a nuclear capability; President Trump has made that clear,” Rubio agreed.
The two men arrived for the scheduled presser nearly 90 minutes late, and immediately after delivering their statements embraced each other and quickly left the room, taking no questions.
Both leaders emphasized their nations’ commitment to preventing a nuclear breakout from Tehran, and it was clear that Netanyahu and Rubio spent a great deal of time during their morning meetings focused on that issue.
“I want to assure everyone who is now listening to us, President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us,” Netanyahu said.
“We have a common strategy and we can’t always share in details this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released, until the last one of them.”
Netanyahu reiterated the three goals of the war with Hamas: the return of all hostages, living and deceased; eliminating the Hamas terrorist organization’s political and military capabilities; and ensuring that Gaza never again pose a threat to the security of the Jewish State – while underscoring the unswerving support Israel has received from the administration of President Donald Trump, “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”
Netanyahu offered no specific details about how the goals of the war would be achieved but said there was no doubt whatsoever that they would indeed be accomplished.
“Hamas must be destroyed and eradicated,” he said in a declaration echoed by Rubio, who added that with Hamas in power, “peace becomes impossible.”
The Secretary likewise was clear in expressing the Trump Administration’s support for the Jewish State – concrete support seen in the long-delayed shipment of one-ton “bunker buster” bombs that arrived hours earlier on a US Navy vessel in Ashdod port embargoed last year by the Biden White House.
Rubio was equally clear in saying that all hostages held by Hamas must be returned to Israel and praised Trump’s “bold” plan for the future of Gaza.
“All the abductees must be released. It is not optional,” he said.
“The President has been very clear: Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force. And frankly, as long as it stands as a force that can govern or a force that can administer or a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible. They must be eliminated. It must be eradicated,” Rubio said.
The Secretary emphasized that the primary cause of the current instability in the region, including the war started by Hamas, is Iran.
“Iran is the single greatest source of instability in the region. Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people who call this region home, is Iran. And by Iran, I mean the ayatollahs. By Iran, I mean its regime, a regime who by the way, its people don’t support. The people of Iran are victims of that regime,” he said.
“There can never be a nuclear Iran — a nuclear Iran that could then hold itself immune from pressure and from action. That can never happen. The President’s been clear about that as well,” the Secretary emphasized.
Rubio had high praise for Israeli resiliency in the face of the multiple existential threats it faces.
“Israel is an extraordinary story of bravery,” he said.
“A nation founded in the ashes and in the aftermath of a horrifying crime against humanity, it stood from its very inception, from the very day of its birth against threats from every angle and every corner and has served as an example to the world of a pluralistic society, a free-enterprise democracy.
“If there were more Israels in the Middle East, more countries like that, the world would be a safer and a better place. And this is what we hope for the region and for our planet. A nation that has always sought peace but will not allow itself to be intimidated or destroyed by its enemies. And on that front, you can always count on us,” Rubio underscored.
The Secretary likewise reiterated that the Iranian regime cannot be allowed to achieve nuclear weaponry, although he, like Netanyahu, offered no specific details.
