Netanyahu Brags About His Influence in the US and Pushing It to Attack Iran

Occupied Jerusalem – Agencies: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not stop at boasting about his decades-long political campaign against Iran; he also revealed a card of influence that he claims helped change the U.S. stance toward Tehran. According to his account, he spent approximately 1,000 hours on American television screens, addressing the public and policymakers and strengthening his network of relationships with U.S. leaders. During an interview with Israel’s Channel 14, Netanyahu recounted a trajectory he said spanned nearly 40 years, during which he sought to convince the Israeli security establishment and the United States that Iran represents a threat requiring direct engagement, rather than merely confronting its proxies in the region. Netanyahu stated that persuading Washington to adopt this view “took a long time,” before ultimately attributing what he considered a success to his intensive media presence and his ability to influence the United States. He added, “I was able to do that because I had, I don’t want to say thousands of hours, but nearly a thousand hours, on American television, with the ability to influence the United States and a precise knowledge of all its leaders.” The significance of Netanyahu’s remarks extends beyond the figure of “a thousand hours”; they also reveal his view of the American media as a tool for shaping public opinion and influencing policymakers, and his presentation of this media presence as one of the factors that, in his account, helped push Washington toward a more escalatory stance toward Iran.