Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today:
"As you know, the day before yesterday, I had an historic meeting with President Trump, which was a great turning point for the future of Israel.
At this meeting, he also brought up his idea about Gaza, for the day after Hamas, and I think it is worth listening very well to this idea, which is the first original idea to be raised in years.
I also spoke with top administration officials, with the Vice President, the National Security Advisor, with Secretary of Defense Hegseth at the Pentagon, all of them great friends of the State of Israel.
From there I went to Congress where I met with the heads of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Republicans and Democrats alike, and they all agreed with me on two things: One, that Iran must not have nuclear weapons and two, that Hamas must be eliminated. It cannot be there in Gaza.
I must also tell you, they all expressed great appreciation for Israel's major achievements. I said that we are changing the face of the Middle East, and they simply saluted this.
But they asked me: 'Where does your strength come from? A country that is as small as New Jersey, from where do you get your strength?'
I said: 'Our strength comes from our people and from our heroic soldiers, and from our faith and the understanding that we are fighting for thousands of years of Jewish history and for our right to a state of our own in the Middle East, in our historic homeland.'
This is the truth - and it will take us very far."