Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of a deadly Iranian strike in Beit Shemesh, where nine people, including four teenagers, were killed. He thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for supporting efforts against Iran, describing them as a bid to save the world from a nuclear-armed regime. The remarks came amid escalating tensions following a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian military sites.
On March 2, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the ruins of a synagogue in Beit Shemesh, a city west of Jerusalem, following an Iranian strike that killed nine Israelis. Among the victims were four young teenagers, three of whom were from the same family. The attack was a response to a U.S.-Israeli operation targeting military installations in Iran, which prompted Iran to launch weapons at civilian areas across the Middle East.
Standing amid the rubble, Netanyahu emphasized the global stakes of confronting Iran. "If this regime, this terrorist regime of the kind we've never seen in the world, if they get nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, ballistic missiles, intercontinental ballistic missiles, they will threaten all of humanity," he stated. He added, "We set out to protect ourselves, but in so doing, we protect many others. I want to say special thanks to our great friend and a great leader of the world, Donald Trump, for joining us in this crucial effort to save the world."
Netanyahu and Trump have long shared concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions. During his 2015 campaign launch, Trump criticized the Iran Nuclear Deal, or JCPOA, as "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions" in history, calling Iran a "paper tiger" that was being given "the path to a nuclear weapon" by the Obama administration. In October 2017, as president, Trump announced a strategy to counter Iran's actions, stating, "Our policy is based on a clear-eyed assessment of the Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world." He vowed to ensure Iran "never, and I mean never, acquires a nuclear weapon."
Netanyahu has voiced similar warnings for decades. In a 1996 address to the U.S. Congress, he described Iran as "the most dangerous of these regimes," warning that if it or its neighbor Iraq acquired nuclear weapons, it "could presage catastrophic consequences, not only for my country, and not only for the Middle East, but for all mankind."
