Netanyahu says give diplomatic path with Iran ‘a try,’ evades question about regime change; stresses resuming attacks on Iran is up to Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he hopes that Iran wants to make a deal with US President Donald Trump.

“Anything that will produce the end of Iran’s nuclear program is what we want,” he tells ABC News. “That is our common goal, we talked about it.”

If there is sufficient economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran to accept a deal, “give it a try,” says Netanyahu.

He insists that he did not try to persuade Trump to resume attacks on Iran, calling that narrative “a caricature.”

“It’s his decision,” says Netanyahu.

He also dismisses the notion that he misled Trump into launching the war. “I didn’t mislead anything,” he says. “Nobody tells President Trump what to do. ”

Asked if his goal is regime change, Netanyahu says: “My goal is to make sure that Iran, with this regime, doesn’t have nuclear weapons.”

Netanyahu acknowledges that Trump is the “senior partner” in the alliance and he is the “junior partner.”

Asked about Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, he says that before the US-Israel campaign, “I thought they could do it, but I thought they’d have to consider what would be the consequences.”

Netanyahu blames Mayor Zohran Mamdani for attacks against Jews in New York City, saying that he “celebrates the [Hamas] barbarians, and a day later a Jew is stabbed coming out of a synagogue. I don’t think that’s accidental.”