Gideon Saar, the foreign minister of Israel, praised the leadership of Donald Trump in addressing the nuclear threat posed by Iran during an interview on Newsmax.
Speaking with host Greta Van Susteren, Saar said Trump acted decisively alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to confront Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Saar contrasted the current approach with how former U.S. President Bill Clinton handled nuclear tensions with North Korea in the 1990s. According to Saar, Clinton threatened action but ultimately did not follow through, which he argued allowed North Korea to eventually develop nuclear weapons.
He said Israel and the United States believed action against Iran had become urgent after intelligence suggested Tehran planned to move parts of its nuclear program deep underground. Saar warned that once relocated to heavily fortified facilities, those components could become immune to airstrikes.
“If diplomacy doesn’t work, leaders must decide whether to act,” Saar said, arguing that delaying action would have made the situation more dangerous.
The Israeli foreign minister said the U.S. had attempted diplomatic engagement with Iran but that Tehran refused to negotiate on key issues, including its nuclear weapons development, ballistic missile program, and support for militant groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.
Saar also noted that Israel has had no direct diplomatic contact with Iran for roughly two decades, citing the Iranian government’s longstanding hostility toward the Israeli state.
He added that Iran has sought to weaken Israel by supporting armed proxy groups across the region and by targeting U.S. allies in the Middle East, including countries such as Qatar.
Saar rejected speculation that Israel might attempt territorial expansion into Iran, calling the idea unrealistic given the distance between the two countries and the presence of other nations, including Jordan and Iraq, between them.
According to Saar, the current conflict reflects a broader effort by Israel and its allies to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and destabilizing the region further.
