Netanyahu criticises Biden admin’s policies, says attack damaged Iran's nuke programme

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his first speech after the US election, criticised the Biden administration for its policies and judgement regarding Israel's ongoing war against Hamas, Iran and its proxies. 

Speaking at the Knesset plenum on Monday (Nov. 18), Netanyahu said, “The US had reservations and suggested that we not enter Gaza. It had reservations about entering Gaza City, Khan Younis, and, most critically, strongly opposed entry into Rafah,” The Times of Israel reported. 

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“President Biden told me that if we go in, we will be alone. He also said that he would stop shipments of important weapons to us. And so he did. A few days later, Blinken appeared and repeated the same things and I told him we will fight with our nails," the Israeli PM was reported saying. 

Netanyahu further criticised the US response after Iran's drone and missile attacks on Israel. 

“Again, we were told by our friend that there is no need to respond. And I said that sitting and not reacting is not acceptable, and we responded," The Times of Israel reported Netanyahu saying. 

'A specific component damaged'

Netanyahu further claimed in his speech that Israel's late October attack on Iran damaged "a specific component" of the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme.

The PM said that the Israeli counterattack last month inflicted real damage on Iran’s ballistic missile production capability, and also affected its nuclear programme.
 

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“It’s not a secret, it has been published that a certain component of their nuclear programme was hit in this attack," Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament.

He further added that Iran’s plan for a nuclear weapon is still on. “We’ve delayed it… but it has progressed. Iran has advanced its enrichment. The imperative to stop Iran’s march to the bomb is on us,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)