EXCLUSIVE: Israeli President Isaac Herzog addresses Iran threat, Mamdani and US relations

It says comments in the last few years, Mamdani does not respect my nation's. right for self-determination, my nation's right, the Jewish people's. inherent right to have a nation of their. own. And he's basically spreading. blasphemy, hate, anti-Semitic rhetoric. He should understand that he's risking. his own citizens. He's risking their. safety, well-being, and life. We've seen. the stabbing just a few more days ago in.

New York in a New York street just. because somebody was dressed as an. Orthodox Jew. This cannot be accepted in. New York, which is a city which is dear. to our heart. Dear to the Israelis and dear to me. personally. I graduate I graduated. school in New York. I went to college in. New York. I love New York. I started my. political career in New York. I think. New York is an incredible city and I. think New York will continue way after.

Mamdani and I hope he won't create an an. irreversible damage. And I hope that the. citizens of New York will be as safe as. was promised to them. So, the Iranian. regime. is for decades a strategic threat to. world stability, not only to Israel, not. only only to the Middle East. You think. about it. They take their people's food. and money and spend it on terror all. over the world. It's a given fact. They.

can't deny there are terror cells of. Iran through its proxies or by itself. all over the world. You ask yourself why. a nation of this nature wants to have so. much terror activity in around the world. and that is because of ideology. And the. ideology is extremely dangerous. And the. ideology does not accommodate any other. religion or moderate Islam for that. matter. That is why it is so dangerous.

That is why you see their behavior. You. see it in the missile program, you see. it in Hamas, you see it in the nuclear. desire, you see it in the butchering of. tens of thousands of its citizens, you. see it in its the proxies, and the hate. it spread, and it caused so much. suffering. So many American citizens. were killed by this regime. So that is. the it's a it's a major threat. to American national security interests. President Trump speaks from the heart.

when he speaks about his love and. respect of Israel and support of Israel, and he also carried out we in deeds. I. mean, we Israelis, we vividly remember. the moving of the American embassy to. Jerusalem, his declaration on the Golan Heights, his. endless support of the Israeli position. in so many issues. And of course, I can. test I can absolutely test to the fact.

that because of President Trump uh we. had the hostages coming back home. This. is something big. Of course, there were. many many efforts, and there were many. people taking decisions, but at the the. end it was President Trump who put his. foot down and pushed and negotiated. brilliantly to bring back our hostages. So I have huge respect. We can have. divi- divisions over issues or some. arguments, but that does not derogate. for the enormous respect we have for.

President Trump. More than that, I. believe that there's something there. there is something biblical and. prophetic. in the way our nations work together. And I truly believe that Israel should. be a bipartisan. issue of friendship and support. And I'm. aware about the tendencies to a course. change views on Israel to go negative on. Israel, but I truly believe that our. relations as nations transcends all of.

this. And this I'm speaking bipartisan. also after speaking to major leaders in. the in the Democratic Party or previous. presidents. So, all in all I say that President. Trump in his position right now has. shown immense support and friendship. with Israel and we see on a lot of. issues eye to eye. Well, the American young generation is. is extremely dear to our hearts. And I think part of the issue is that.

you the information is supplied through. distorted channels, superficial. channels. It's very easy to smear Israel. in TikTok, but that doesn't say the real. truth. And I invite every young American. to set foot in this country. In Israel, this is the place where innovators. flourish. This is the place when startup. in nation flourishes. This is the place. where great ideas are given to the world. and contribute enormously to the world. in so many great fields from health to.

energy to science to agriculture to food. security to what's not. It's there's a. reason why Americans who visit our. country, young Americans, fall in love. with this country. And my aim in this. interview is to. you know, take off the terrible mask. which was placed on our face by terrible. forces, some of them of course forces. which work on it all the time to tell. the distorted story. We're a nation.

seeking peace. We're a nation seeking. innovation. We're a nation bringing. ideas which will save humanity. And. we're a nation trying to do good. And I. hope and pray that we will have peace. with our neighbors in the entire region, with our Palestinian neighbors as well. But that requires that Israel will be. accepted and people will understand that. we have security needs. That bill, for. example, is another, you know, red light that flashes big.

But that doesn't mean that it's over and. out for the relations with the American. public and the Israeli public or for. that matter with the body politic about. of bipartisan dialogue and support. I. just 3 years ago, okay, July, exactly 3 years ago, I spoke in the. American Congress in front of a joint. session of the house marking 75 years of.

to Israel's independence and I had. almost 30 standing ovations. So, it's. not that you cannot have a dialogue and. I'm aware I'm aware of the criticism and. I'm aware of a huge campaign on campuses. and I'm aware of huge money which was. funneled to a to attack Israel and also. aware of our mistakes, of course. The thing is that Israel is a democracy. We're in elections. We're having. elections. on the 27th of October, huge elections.

We'll have about 40 different parties. running with a spectrum of views as one. can as hardly can imagine as far as. possible. from a Palestinian oriented parties to. extreme right-wing, even fascist on the. verge of fascism parties. We have them. all because the right of free speech is. as wide as possible in this nation and. democracy thrives here and that's why. we should have a dialogue of friends who.

believe in democratic values and. understand that each of our nations has. an evolutionary process. The Israeli nation is going through an. evolution. Definitely after October 7th, it's legitimate to ask tough questions. and say, "How is our security with going. to develop with our neighbors attacking. us in such a horrendous, aggressive, uh. cruel way on October 7th?". It's legitimate to speak about it. I'm. the one meeting bereaved families every.

day. And, of course, it's legitimate to ask. in America, "How is our the relationship. with Israel? Uh what is Israel's uh its. contribution to our national security. interests?" Absolutely big, but let's. discuss it. And, of course, understand. the fact that Israel and the United. States, the United States and Israel go. hand in hand for generations because we. both drink from the fountains of the. Bible. We both drink from this set of.

values which was commanded to all of us. by these historic. uh. um. spiritual books given to us by the. almighty. First of all, I have huge. respect for the Christian communities in. the Holy Land and to an interfaith. dialogue with the Christian world. I. myself. met the Pope and spoke to him several. times and went to the Holy See. I speak. to all the heads of churches. I recently. had the Greek Orthodox Patriarch and.

this morning the Cardinal of Jerusalem, uh. uh. Cardinal Pizzaballa, and so forth and so. on. I believe in real dialogue with our. brothers and sisters from the. Evangelical world in the United States. and elsewhere. So, the Christian. communities are a top priority in Israel. and I will We are doing our best that. they will flourish and grow. I know of cases where there was tension. and we are dealing with it aggressively. and there's a major reduction in in.

moments of friction. Now, we have to. work hard that the throughout the region. Christian communities will be strong and. will flourish because there is a. movement to shun out Christian. communities especially in some of the. Muslim world in the. in Palestinian communities and. elsewhere. And we are dealing with it as. well. And I'm here for any Christian community. that needs. support of any kind. People know it and.

I speak to their leaders all the time. Lindsay Graham was a great human being. Huge and a dear friend of mine. He came. here. gazillion times. We spoke endlessly. He. was also extra a close intimate friend. of my brother Michael was Israel's. previous ambassador to the United. States. Lindsay was ever active, always. coming with new ideas, brilliant. Understood world affairs like no one.

else and understood Israel's role. in protecting Western values and values. of free world as well as defending. Europe and of course being a vibrant. democracy in the Middle East. He also. knew how to alert He knew how to say. criticism which is absolutely legitimate. between friends and we would talk about. it openly. He enjoyed huge support by. all spectrum of Israeli politics. And when he said things people listened.

as well as he had huge support in the. United States across the aisle as you. saw in his. funeral service. So Lindsay Graham was a. great American patriot. First and foremost he saw American. interests above all and he identified. them clearly and he knew how to fight. empires and nations of evil and to stand. up to them without fear. I will always. remember him. Israel will always. remember him. The Jewish people will. always cherish his memory. Karim Khan.

first said that he wants to come to. Israel to meet with the various experts. and leaders. I'll give you a scoop. He. was supposed to meet me as well. On that day where he was supposed to. take a flight at noon time, I think it. was a Thursday if I'm not mistaken. He we knew that he's taking a flight and. then he's coming to see various leaders, experts, study the situation, see what. happened. They all Everybody got ready.

to talk to him and present the real. story and the real truth. And then just and and his staff were on. their way to the airport. And all of a sudden he issued these. orders and writs. against uh Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant and others. And only in hindsight now we know. clearly that it was in order to divert. attention from the sexual allegations,

sexual harassment allegations against. him. And the recent resolution as was. published. makes justice on one frontier against. the woman who was assaulted, a hero in. my mind. I saw her interview. in CNN and I was impressed. Uh because I think it's very bold and I. think when women stand up and and and. present a Me Too case, we should give. them full support. That was always my.

conviction. And when you speak about that also when. it comes to justice, not only being seen. but also being done, these allegations, that case has to be. dropped and the ICC should revert it. completely. and not fall into the trap of hate and. lies that Karim Khan presented simply to. cover for himself. I want to commend the. enormous efforts which are carried out. by the Trump administration, the Board. of Peace, by the the people leading it,

including Nickolay Mladenov, who is the. special uh. CEO of the Board of Peace dealing with. the issue of the next phase in Gaza. And of course, the efforts of the Jared. Kushner and his team. There are some. great efforts being done here. And this is something that can make be a. major breakthrough if it happens. Let's. remember the 20-point plan of President. Trump was approved.

by the Security Council. And the next. phase is. disarming of Hamas. Now, there's heavy. negotiations on that with the assistance. of the Egyptians and other mediators. And I really hope that there will be. effort that will lead to results because. the people of Gaza. deserve a better life. And there is a. real viable plan. including budget and efforts how to. change the course of the future of Gaza.

and the living standards of the people. of Gaza. One thing has to be made clear. Hamas cannot control Gaza and cannot. turn it into a a a launching pad for. terror and hate anymore. And there could be a different venue and. a different alternative which was. drafted and and resolved in the Board of. Peace. And I sincerely hope. absolutely that this will happen and. happen soon. The sooner the better.

We care. and I care for the people of Gaza. But for this, they have to take their. fate in their hand, disarm that terrible. terrorist organization, and move forward. to towards a better future for the. people of Gaza and the people of Israel.