In Q&A With Press, Netanyahu Slams Iran, Offers Tacit Support For Saudi Crown Prince

During an annual gathering with foreign press, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intimated that Israel would act militarily within Iran to prevent the mullahs from acquiring nuclear weapons. “Our redline is our survival,” the premier asserted, adding that “we do what is necessary to protect Israel against the Iranian regime that openly calls for the annihilation of the Jewish state.” Netanyahu noted that the Israeli army currently is the only force in the world directly engaging Iranian forces: “We are doing that in Syria and pulling them back,” he claimed. When asked about the October killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the prime minister described the incident as “horrific” but nevertheless offered tacit support for beleaguered Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. “If Saudi Arabia is destabilized, the world will be destabilized,” Netanyahu affirmed, “and I think that has to be taken into account.”