JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first press conference in three months on Monday evening, breaking his silence on the US-Iran memorandum of understanding hours after nearly every other Israeli official had already weighed in on the agreement.
Speaking to reporters, Netanyahu acknowledged that he and President Donald Trump “do not always see eye to eye.” “He is the president of the United States, and I am the prime minister of Israel. I’m responsible for Israel’s security interests,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister admitted that Israel does not yet know the full details of the agreement, which was virtually signed on Sunday night by Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. A formal signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday in Switzerland. “I would not make that comparison. We do not know what the agreement was,” Netanyahu said when asked about potential similarities to the 2015 nuclear deal.
Despite his limited knowledge of the deal’s specifics, Netanyahu struck a defiant tone on Iran’s nuclear program. “With an agreement or without an agreement, Iran will not have nuclear weapons — not today and not tomorrow. As long as I am prime minister of Israel, it will not happen,” he declared, calling it his “life’s mission.”
US Response
Vice President JD Vance said Monday that the Trump administration believes Israel will eventually support the new agreement, even as differences remain between Washington and Netanyahu on the path to ending the conflict. Vance also confirmed that the deal was signed digitally and that no funds have been released to Iran.
Israeli Domestic Backlash
Netanyahu’s press conference did little to quell a growing domestic backlash — including from within his own government.
Far-right ministers were quick to reject the agreement. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated on X: “We are not partners to this agreement that does not ensure our security, and it does not bind us in any way.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called the deal “bad for Israel and for the entire free world. Period.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that the Israeli military will remain in southern Lebanon and warned that if Iran strikes, it will be hit “with full force,” promising that Israel will resist any pressure.
Opposition leaders were equally scathing. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Netanyahu “lost the war” and collapsed in the “moment of truth,” adding: “There has never, ever, been a more absolute failure than Netanyahu’s diplomatic failure on the Iranian front.” “The State of Israel won the battle; Netanyahu lost the war,” Lapid said.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett called the Trump-imposed terms “a product of failed Israeli leadership.” Former chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the centrist Yashar party, said Israel “wakes up today to an agreement that was generated far from here and from its interests,” and that the agreement should have preserved “Israeli freedom of action.”
Lebanon and Hezbollah
Netanyahu made clear that Israel would not withdraw from southern Lebanon. “We established deep security zones around the State of Israel. We did this in Gaza, in Lebanon, and in Syria,” he said. “We will remain in these security zones for as long as necessary to protect our country.”
According to Israeli officials, Netanyahu told Trump directly that Israel does not consider itself bound by the Lebanon clause in the agreement and will not withdraw from Lebanon. The IDF will remain in its current positions and continue operating to foil threats from Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, welcomed the US-Iran memorandum on Monday, saying the agreement paves the way for a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts, including Lebanon. The group said Tehran had insisted on including Lebanon in any agreement and reiterated its commitment to defending Lebanon until a full Israeli withdrawal is secured. Despite the agreement, Hezbollah and Israel continued fighting on Monday, with both sides claiming responsibility for strikes in southern Lebanon.
Israeli Exclusion from Negotiations
Israel was sidelined entirely throughout the negotiating process — a fact highlighted when Netanyahu informed reporters that Israel does not yet know the details of the deal. According to a CNN report, a US official said Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon was excluded from any deal between the US and Iran. Israel, despite having started the war alongside the US, was not involved in the negotiations.
The prime minister, who is facing mounting domestic backlash over the US-dictated terms for the apparent end of the war, reiterated his assertion that the nuclear threat from Iran had been an “immediate danger” which Israel successfully removed “together with our American friends.”
“We launched the largest attack operation in Israel’s history,” Netanyahu said, listing what he described as Israel’s accomplishments: targeting nuclear scientists, eliminating leaders of the “terror regime,” crushing nuclear facilities, and destroying missiles and missile factories. “We saved the State of Israel from annihilation,” he declared.
However, he added that “the struggle is not over and complete. We will need to continue standing guard, continue being strong and determined, and defend ourselves as much as necessary.”
The agreement, which is expected to halt the US blockade of Iranian ports, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and begin 60 days of nuclear negotiations, has left Israel — a key player in the war against Iran — watching from the sidelines as its closest ally charts a new course with its adversary.