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In New Year’s greeting, Netanyahu thanks Trump for ‘historic progress’ in curbing Iran

“In the year ahead, we will continue to make the world safer for all,” said the Israeli premier.

Trump Netanyahu
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office, July 28, 2026. Credit: Daniel Torok/White House.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday extended a Shana Tova—a happy Jewish New Year—to U.S. President Donald Trump, his family and the American people.

“Over the past year, the United States and Israel have achieved historic progress together. Iran and its evil axis are weaker than ever, while the U.S.-Israel alliance is stronger than ever,” Netanyahu wrote on X.

The premier congratulated the president on “his blockade of Iran’s evil regime and on the economic pressure brought to bear against the world’s greatest source of instability.

“The people of Israel stand with the people of the United States and with President Trump in confronting the forces of terror,” Netanyahu continued. “In the year ahead, we will continue to make the world safer for all.”

Trump on Saturday defended his decision to go to war against Iran, saying that if the regime in Tehran acquired nuclear weapons, it would target Israel and the entire Middle East, as well as Europe.

“They were two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon,” said Trump. “If they had it they would have blown up Israel, they would have blown up the Middle East, and they would have hit [some of] Europe’s cities ... and they would have probably hit us too before we put out the fire.”

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