Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed aside reports that US President Donald Trump called him “f---ing crazy,” refusing Wednesday to discuss the details of a tense phone call but insisting the two leaders remain close allies despite “tactical disagreements” over the war with Iran and fighting in Lebanon.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said he and Trump speak “once every two days” and remain aligned on the central objective of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Trump: I told Netanyahu he's 'f---ing crazy'
(Video: Pod Force One, New York Post)
“I’m not going to get into details,” Netanyahu said when asked about reports that Trump cursed at him during the call and said he would be in prison without him.
Trump confirmed Wednesday in an interview with The New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast that he told Netanyahu he was “crazy,” framing the exchange as a dispute between two wartime leaders who continue to work closely together.
Netanyahu played down any suggestion of a rupture.
“Sometimes, as in the best of families, you have these tactical disagreements,” he said. “But we always find a way to work them out, and we do so as great friends.”
The prime minister said Israel and the United States remain prepared to resume full-scale military action against Iran if needed, warning that Tehran should understand it is “playing with fire.”
Asked whether there is in fact a ceasefire with Iran, Netanyahu said, “I think there’s a tactical game that is being played.”
“Iran surely knows what he has said, that if necessary, there will be a full-scale return to military action,” Netanyahu said, referring to Trump. “It’s a president’s decision. Israel is ready, and the US forces are ready.”
Netanyahu described Iran as an existential threat not only to Israel but also to the United States and Europe.
“We’re faced with an enemy that wants to destroy our country, that wants to destroy your country, that wants to destroy free democracies everywhere,” he said. “When we fight Iran and its proxies, we’re not only fighting our war, we’re fighting your war, and frankly, Europe’s war as well.”
He said the Iranian regime had been “enormously weakened,” but declined to predict when it might fall.
“You can’t quite predict when a regime like that goes under,” he said, citing Romania and the fall of the Berlin Wall. “The cracks were propagating underneath.”
Netanyahu also praised what he called the US “reverse blockade” of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz, calling it “a stroke of genius,” and said alternative oil shipping routes were already being developed.
The interview came as Iran fired missiles and drones at Kuwait and Bahrain, according to US Central Command. Kuwait said drones targeted the passenger building at Kuwait International Airport, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed strikes on US-linked targets in Bahrain. CENTCOM said all attacks on American forces failed.
Netanyahu also pushed back against global criticism of Israel’s conduct, accusing some Western media and social platforms of spreading “fraudulent lies.”
“The question is, do you succumb to the lies? No, I protect my people,” he said. “I would rather get a bad editorial than a positive obituary.”
He also touted Israel’s economy, saying investors should not be deterred by the war.
“I’m not a stockbroker,” Netanyahu said, “but I would say buy anything in Israel, because Israel is going up.”