Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked Tuesday evening how he had changed since the October 7 Hamas massacre, and responded with a laugh: “I lost some weight.”
After the joke, Netanyahu said he had drawn lessons from the events of October 7. “After October 7, I learned lessons,” he said. “Buffer zones must be in enemy territory and not in ours. I stand firm on our interests.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool)
Netanyahu added that he has “enormous appreciation for our soldiers, commanders and security forces,” but said the events after October 7 made him understand “even more strongly that we have a state with an army, and not the other way around.”
Netanyahu made the comments in an interview with Channel 14. Asked about recent remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he said: “He should calm down. We will not allow anyone to threaten our security.”
“What is happening in Turkey is a result of the decline of Iran’s power,” Netanyahu said. “He forgot that Ottoman rule ended 400 years ago. Does it trouble me? Of course.”
Netanyahu was also asked about Israel’s soaring cost of living, and was shown the price of a shawarma meal in Tel Aviv: 72 shekels. He quickly shifted the answer.
“There is such a problem, and there is a lot to do about it,” Netanyahu said. “Part of it is connected to legislation that I doubt we will pass. One thing I can say: housing prices, we managed to lower them. I want to lower the cost of living and help our reservists.”
Netanyahu also addressed his relations with U.S. President Donald Trump. When told that Trump “spoke badly,” the prime minister laughed and replied: “Is that the first time? The relations are very good. It does not exactly reach the level of shouting.”
On Iran, Netanyahu said Israel had prevented a nuclear threat. “In Iran, we saved ourselves from atomic bombs,” he said. “If needed, there will be a third time. They will not have nuclear weapons.”
Netanyahu also referred to the judges’ recommendation to the prosecution in his criminal trial to drop the bribery charge. He claimed the cases against him had collapsed, although the judges did not refer to the other charges.
He then said he still wants a pardon. “This trial tore the people apart,” Netanyahu said. “It was the basis for boycotts, and this trial brought us into a spiral of repeated elections. It must be brought to an end.”