Onlookers were left in shock Tuesday after the leader of a U.S. ally openly boasted on live television about a successful "influence" campaign waged on American leaders to push the U.S. into launching its deeply unpopular war against Iran.
Underwater in the polls ahead of the nation's October elections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to Israel's popular Channel 14 Sunday night with a pitch to voters.
“I’ve been against Iran for almost 40 years… it took a long time to bring the United States to its senses,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew, according to Zeteo’s Prem Thakker.
“[I’ve had] close to 1,000 hours on American television with the ability to influence the United States — with the intimate knowledge of all its leaders, both those who support us and those who don’t support us — the ability to navigate this field, through it.”
A White House insider told Bloomberg in March that President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran was “partly motivated by pressure from outside allies” — chief among them being Netanyahu. Speculation that Netanyahu had “pulled” Trump into the deeply unpopular conflict was so strong that Trump felt compelled to respond: “Israel never talked me into the war with Iran,” he wrote in a social media post in late April.
“The gall. In English, Netanyahu lavishes praise on U.S. leaders. In Hebrew, he boasts of how he manipulated them,” Thakker wrote in a report published in Zeteo Tuesday.
“Netanyahu explicitly cites how the U.S. media has served as a compliant springboard, a vessel for his influence operation on, if not the populace, at least the consultants and members of Congress who engage with cable news more than their actual constituents.”
Breck Worsham, a prominent right-wing influencer and ex-Trump supporter, expressed shock at how Netanyahu appeared to openly brag “on how he manipulated Trump,” as did journalist Max Blumenthal.
“Netanyahu appeals to Israeli voters by boasting that he manipulated Trump,” Blumenthal observed.
Netanyahu has pushed for the United States to attack Iran since at least the 1990s, and also confirmed his support last year for “Greater Israel,” the territorial aspirations of some Israelis to significantly expand the nation’s borders.
“There comes a point when every dam breaks,” Thakker mused. “It should’ve happened decades ago. Years ago. Months ago. Every single day delivers another reminder of how heartlessly violent the Israeli state is, and how that behavior is carried out on the U.S. dime.”
Netanyahu appeals to Israeli voters by boasting that he manipulated Trump:
“it took a long time to get the US to come to its senses” but I finally got it to attack Iran due to my “influence” over its leaders through “1000 hours on American television” pic.twitter.com/hwrswfkbv2
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) August 31, 2026