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Netanyahu defends his pending far-right coalition: ‘Two hands firmly on the steering wheel’
(JTA) – On the cusp of forming a new government, incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his inclusion of far-right groups in his coalition amid domestic and global criticism for his alliances with extremist figures.
“They’re joining me, I’m not joining them,” Netanyahu said in an NPR interview Thursday during the final stretch of his coalition talks, which are currently set for a Dec. 21 deadline. “I’ll have two hands firmly on the steering wheel. I won’t let anybody do anything to LGBT [people] or to deny our Arab citizens their rights or anything like that.”
Netanyahu specifically defended his expected decision to bestow Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, with the newly created title of national security minister, a post which would give him control over Israel’s police forces. Ben-Gvir has previously called for the expulsion of all Arabs from Israel and has a long history of inciting political violence in the country.
Former ministers and police chiefs have said that Ben-Gvir would turn Israel into a “police state” under such expanded powers; at least one former police chief said he would sooner resign than work for him. But Netanyahu said the lawmaker has changed since his past views.
“He’s modified a lot of his views since then,” Netanyahu said of Ben-Gvir, insisting that “a position of responsibility in governance” would moderate the politician’s stances. “I have to say that with power comes responsibility.”
Netanyahu said he granted Ben-Gvir the role of head of police because “the erosion of internal security in Israel” is “a big, big issue” that Ben-Gvir had run on and noted that the Israeli Supreme Court had previously ruled that Ben-Gvir was eligible to be a lawmaker despite his extremist past.
Ben-Gvir’s party won six seats in the Knesset in November’s elections. Liberal Jewish groups have expressed alarm over the prospect of Netanyahu working with him, arguing that an alliance with such a figure could cause a rift in U.S.-Israel relations, damage Israel’s international standing and alienate American Jews, who are largely liberal.
Netanyahu’s comment on LGBT rights in Israel could refer to his negotiations with another far-right lawmaker, Religious Zionism party head Bezalel Smotrich. The Knesset is currently engaged in a legislative blitz to grant expanded powers in the next government that would likely go to Smotrich, who has compared gay marriage to incest. Under the agreement, Smotrich — whose party calls for an increase in the construction and recognition of Israeli settlements — would gain a new role in the defense ministry that would grant him oversight over the Israeli government’s actions in the West Bank
Smotrich also backs several religious citizenship proposals opposed by Diaspora Jewry, including ending the Law of Return that grants Israeli citizenship to anyone with demonstrable Jewish ancestry and ending the country’s recognition of non-Orthodox conversions to Judaism. Israeli media has reported that at least some versions of these policies appear to be on the table for Netanyahu’s Likud party.
Israel’s attorney general has called the proposed new laws an attack on the country’s democracy, leading Ben-Gvir to denounce her.
Netanyahu has the option of requesting up to an additional four days for coalition talks from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, which would move his deadline to Dec. 25.
In the NPR interview, Netanyahu also continued to assert that a peace deal with Palestinians would only be possible if Israel retains control over the region’s “security” and reiterated his opposition to an Iranian nuclear deal.
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Israel’s Netanyahu Hopes to ‘Taper’ Israel Off US Military Aid in Next Decade
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview published on Friday that he hopes to “taper off” Israeli dependence on US military aid in the next decade.
Netanyahu has said Israel should not be reliant on foreign military aid but has stopped short of declaring a firm timeline for when Israel would be fully independent from Washington.
“I want to taper off the military within the next 10 years,” Netanyahu told The Economist. Asked if that meant a tapering “down to zero,” he said: “Yes.”
Netanyahu said he told President Donald Trump during a recent visit that Israel “very deeply” appreciates “the military aid that America has given us over the years, but here too we’ve come of age and we’ve developed incredible capacities.”
In December, Netanyahu said Israel would spend 350 billion shekels ($110 billion) on developing an independent arms industry to reduce dependency on other countries.
In 2016, the US and Israeli governments signed a memorandum of understanding for the 10 years through September 2028 that provides $38 billion in military aid, $33 billion in grants to buy military equipment and $5 billion for missile defense systems.
Israeli defense exports rose 13 percent last year, with major contracts signed for Israeli defense technology including its advanced multi-layered aerial defense systems.
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Israel supporter and close ally of Trump, said on X that “we need not wait ten years” to begin scaling back military aid to Israel.
“The billions in taxpayer dollars that would be saved by expediting the termination of military aid to Israel will and should be plowed back into the US military,” Graham said. “I will be presenting a proposal to Israel and the Trump administration to dramatically expedite the timetable.”
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In Rare Messages from Iran, Protesters ask West for Help, Speak of ‘Very High’ Death Toll
Protests in Tehran. Photo: Iran Photo from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law, via i24 News
i24 News – Speaking to Western media from beyond the nationwide internet blackout imposed by the Islamic regime, Iranian protesters said they needed support amid a brutal crackdown.
“We’re standing up for a revolution, but we need help. Snipers have been stationed behind the Tajrish Arg area [a neighborhood in Tehran],” said a protester in Tehran speaking to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity. He added that “We saw hundreds of bodies.”
Another activist in Tehran spoke of witnessing security forces firing live ammunition at protesters resulting in a “very high” number killed.
On Friday, TIME magazine cited a Tehran doctor speaking on condition of anonymity that just six hospitals in the capital recorded at least 217 killed protesters, “most by live ammunition.”
Speaking to Reuters on Saturday, Setare Ghorbani, a French-Iranian national living in the suburbs of Paris, said that she became ill from worry for her friends inside Iran. She read out one of her friends’ last messages before losing contact: “I saw two government agents and they grabbed people, they fought so much, and I don’t know if they died or not.”
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Report: US Increasingly Regards Iran Protests as Having Potential to Overthrow Regime
United States President Donald J Trump in White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Thursday, December 18, 2025. Photo: Aaron Schwartz via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – The assessment in Washington of the strength and scope of the Iran protests has shifted after Thursday’s turnout, with US officials now inclined to grant the possibility that this could be a game changer, Axios reported on Friday.
“The protests are serious, and we will continue to monitor them,” an unnamed senior US official was quoted as saying in the report.
Iran was largely cut off from the outside world on Friday after the Islamic regime blacked out the internet to curb growing unrest, as videos circulating on social media showed buildings ablaze in anti-government protests raging across the country.
US President Donald Trump warned the Ayatollahs of a strong response if security forces escalate violence against protesters.
“We’re watching it very closely. If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” Trump told reporters when asked about the unrest in Iran.
The latest reported death toll is at 51 protesters, including nine children.