Israeli strength reshapes Middle East while Iran’s proxies crumble and Palestinian leadership fails again.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a commanding appearance at the New York Times DealBook Forum, presenting Israel not as a nation under pressure, but as a nation reshaping the strategic map of the Middle East. In a forceful conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin, Netanyahu declared that “history beckons” and insisted that Israel stands at a decisive moment where strength—not concession—will determine regional stability.
Rejecting yet another round of Western insistence on a Palestinian state, he stated bluntly that Gaza was the real-world experiment, and it ended in disaster: mass terror, Iranian proxies entrenched in power, and the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. “We left Gaza. They built a terror fortress,” Netanyahu reminded the audience, emphasizing that no Israeli leader will allow a repeat of that catastrophe.
Turning to the battlefield, he highlighted how the American-led coalition and relentless Israeli military operations shattered Hamas’s illusions of invincibility. “They didn’t believe we’d enter their last stronghold in Gaza City,” he said. “The battering the Iranian axis received opened new possibilities.”
Netanyahu clarified that strength—not naïve diplomacy—forced Hamas to release hostages, debunking claims that negotiations alone achieved results. “In our region, and increasingly worldwide, peace comes only through power. Weakness invites slaughter.”
When confronted with Saudi Arabia’s insistence on a pathway to Palestinian statehood for normalization, Netanyahu dismissed the demand outright. “There WAS a Palestinian state—Gaza,” he said. “And it produced rockets, tunnels, and mass murder. Not peace.”
He pointed out that 99 Knesset members—an overwhelming consensus—oppose being coerced into a Palestinian state at this time. He then exposed the ideological rot driving Palestinian leadership: schoolbooks glorifying suicide bombers, glorification payments to terrorists, and violent indoctrination rooted in Iran-backed narratives.
On the Palestinian Authority, Netanyahu was equally blunt: “Corrupt, unelected, and funding terror. They cannot govern Gaza.”
The Prime Minister unleashed a devastating critique of the International Criminal Court, calling its comparison of Israeli defense to war crimes an obscene distortion. Drawing a parallel to classic anti-Jewish blood libels, he said: “The same medieval lies once told about Jews are now thrown at the Jewish state.”
“We don’t carpet bomb. We send our soldiers door to door, risking their lives to save civilians trapped by Hamas,” he added, dismantling global propaganda spread by pro-Hamas activists and sympathetic Western radicals.
Netanyahu brushed aside threats from New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani—who claimed he would move to arrest the Israeli leader under ICC warrants. “Of course I’ll come to New York,” Netanyahu replied coolly.
He also mocked the corruption charges against him, calling them a farcical “witch hunt.” “A Bugs Bunny doll, cigars, champagne—this is what they built a trial on,” he said. “Meanwhile, I am needed to lead Israel at a turning point.”
Looking ahead, Netanyahu expressed optimism for Israel’s expanding leadership in AI and technology—so long as the nation remains secure and unapologetically strong.
“When history is within reach, you don’t step aside—you step forward,” he concluded. “We will win this war. And we will change the Middle East forever.”
