Netanyahu: Iran trying to bring me down via Hamas, Hezbollah

Prime Minister in Patriotim interview (Photo: Courtesy Channel 14)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared Tuesday night on Channel 14's "Patriotim" program and delivered a series of sharp statements on the security and political fronts. Opening his remarks, Netanyahu addressed reports of foreign interference in the upcoming election: "Iran is trying to sabotage the election through its terror arms, Hamas and Hezbollah."

"It's absolutely true, they say openly that they need to bring me down, because their real goal is to destroy the State of Israel," the prime minister said. He then expressed deep concern about the results shaping up at the polls: "I'm very worried. We're in a dead heat. We'll only win this battle if our public gets up and goes out to vote."

Netanyahu on Patriotim (Photo: Courtesy Channel 14)

Netanyahu firmly rejected reports that he had met with a senior Egyptian official who allegedly warned him ahead of the October 7 attacks, and said he had turned directly to the relevant authorities to bring out the truth. According to earlier reports, Netanyahu visited the United Arab Emirates at the invitation of the country's president, but he strongly denied any connection to an attempt to obtain a denial of prior warnings.

The prime minister also issued a sharp warning to the High Court justices on security matters: "The High Court wants to return the residents of Jenin and Tulkarm? It can want, there's a limit to the trolling! It's simply not going to happen." His remarks came against the backdrop of Netanyahu's visit to the seam line, where he stressed that "whoever will control this area and remain in it is the Israel Defense Forces. There will not be an Arab army here west of the Jordan."

Prime Minister on the small parties (Photo: Courtesy Channel 14)

Prime Minister Netanyahu on the small parties: "They're misleading the public. The danger with Winter is that he'll pass the threshold, and give his votes to Liberman. His success is their success."

Finally, addressing the testimony of former Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit, Netanyahu called for the cases against him to be closed immediately: "This trial should never have started in the first place, and now the time has come to stop it. Everyone who took part in this political hunt needs to be thoroughly investigated."

His remarks came following Mandelblit's testimony in court, where he admitted he was unfamiliar with some of the details presented by Netanyahu's defense attorney Amit Hadad, but rejected the claim that the prosecution had deliberately withheld information from him. Mandelblit stated in his testimony: "I did not make any decision in the Netanyahu cases under pressure."