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Benjamin Netanyahu's Speech; Benjamin Netanyahu Speaks After Hostage Release; Dan Senor is Interviewed about Israel. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 13, 2025 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[06:30:00]

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This is the most fitting name ever named for a military operation, because a little after midnight, you really hammered them.

My friends, this is only a partial list. But it's enough to affirm what I've said time and again, Donald Trump is the greatest friend that the state of Israel has ever had in the White House.

No American president has ever done more for Israel. And as I said in Washington, it aren't even close. It's really not a match.

Mr. President, today we welcome you here to thank you for your pivotal leadership in putting forward a proposal that got the backing of almost the entire world. A proposal -- a proposal that brings all our hostages home.

A proposal that ends the war by achieving all our objectives.

A proposal that opens the door to an historic expansion of peace in our region and beyond our region.

Mr. President, you are committed to this peace. I am committed to this peace. And together, Mr. President, we will achieve this peace.

We've done it before. We've done it before in the Abraham Accords. And we'll do it again.

Mr. President, today, the Jewish calendar marks the end of two years of war. That war began on October 7th, on the Jewish festival of Simchat Torah. You always tell me, and you tell the world, remember, October 7th,

Mr. President, we remember. We remember the thousands of Hamas terrorists who stormed into our towns and kibbutzim. We remember the 1,200 people Hamas savagely slaughtered in cold blood, including dozens and dozens of Americans. We remember entire families burnt alive. Burnt alive as they embraced each other. We remember the beautiful young Israelis brutally gunned down at the Nova Music Festival. We remember the hundreds of our citizens who were dragged into the dungeons of Gaza, including 12 Americans, men and women, young and old, babies and elderly Holocaust survivors. My friends, Mr. President, Donald, these monsters take babies as hostages.

In response to this barbaric attack on October 7th, Israel did what it had to do. With indomitable courage, we set out to defend our people, to defeat our enemies, and to release our hostages. Our heroic soldiers fought like lions. They fought on the front lines of civilization and barbarism. Israel achieved amazing victories over Hamas and the entire Iran terror axis. Sinwar Deif, Haniyeh, Nasrallah, Assad, they're all gone.

Iran's -- Iran's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program, with your enormous help, Mr. President, rolled back. Half the Houthi leadership, wiped out. But the price of this victory, the price of these victories, has been heavy. Nearly 2,000 of Israel's finest were lost. Nearly half in battle. They left behind parents, spouses, siblings and children.

[06:35:00]

Their love and laughter, their promise and potential were lost forever. To the families of our fallen fighters, many of them are here, I say, I know the depth of your pain. I know the inconsolable grief that will accompany you for the rest of your lives. The state of Israel bows its head in eternal gratitude to our fallen heroes.

Because of these heroes, our nation will survive. Because of these heroes, our nations will thrive. And because of these heroes, our nation will have peace.

Mr. President, thousands of our brave soldiers were also wounded, suffering terrible blows to body and soul. Brave soldiers like Ari Spitz. Ari is an American -- Ari is an American Israeli who was injured. Ari is an American Israeli who was injured in Gaza while searching for Hamas terrorists and weapons. Two of Ari's comrades were killed in this action, and ten were injured. Ari was presumed dead, but made a miraculous recovery despite losing three limbs. Ari, stand up for a minute alone. Stand up. There you go. There. Ari -- Ari, you are the spirit of Joshua. You are the spirit of David. You are the spirit of the Maccabees. You are the spirit of Israel. I salute you. We all salute you.

Sabine Taasa of kibbutz Netiv HaAsara is watching us today from the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles. Sabine lost her husband and her older son on October 7th. She is the mother of three other boys, two of them, Koren and Shai, witnessed their father jump on a Hamas grenade to save his two sons. We all saw the film of those two boys crying out in pain. Father is dead. Why? Why did God save me?

Mr. President, my friend Donald, I've seen some very tough things in my life, but I couldn't bring myself to watch those boys suffering again. So, I didn't see this film except once. Yet Sabine, their mother, has had the strength and fortitude to show this film across the world. And my wife, Sarah, and I asked her, Sabine, how do you do it? Why do you do it? And she answered, I do it to show the entire world the monsters Israel is fighting and the justice of our cause. This is what she's doing once again in Los Angeles. Sabine, you can hear me now. So, I want to tell you, on behalf of all

of us, you embody the spirit of our biblical heroines, Deborah, Ruth, and Esther. You, too, are the spirit of Israel. And we all salute you.

[06:40:05]

Mr. President, you asked me on our many conversations during the 12- day war with Iran, you asked me, how are the people holding up? And I said to you, our people are strong. Israelis are a nation of lions with unlimited resolve to defend our country and secure our future. The people -- the people give strength to our soldiers, and the people give strength to me and to my colleagues.

The Jewish people have risen from the ashes time and again. But when we formed the state of Israel, and the army of Israel, we pledged, never again. Never again would be defenseless against our enemies. And that -- that resolute strength, not only assures our survival, it assures our future. It assures peace.

We have paid -- we have paid a high price for this war. But our enemies now understand just how powerful and just how determined Israel is. They understand that attacking Israel on October 7th was a catastrophic mistake. They understand that Israel is strong and that Israel is here to stay. And this, Mr. President, is the indispensable foundation of peace. Peace through strength.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a momentous day. A day of great joy as the remaining hostages come home. My wife Sarah and I have met with the hostage families many times. There were no words to describe their agony. Only tears of bottomless sorrow, and unimaginable pain.

At the beginning of the war, I promised to bring all the hostages home. Today, with the indispensable help, the determined and focused help, the unremitting help of President Trump and his team, and with the incredible sacrifice and courage of the soldiers of Israel, we are fulfilling that promise.

It has been a long journey to get here. In the first week of the war, our brave soldiers put military pressure on Hamas, and the international community put diplomatic pressure on them. This enabled us to secure the release of over 100 hostages. In heroic rescue attempts behind enemy lines, Israel's special forces rescued eight live hostages and brought back the remains of dozens more.

But as time went on, we all know what happened. The diplomatic pressure was turned on its head. More and more governments bought into Hamas' false propaganda. More and more governments succumbed to anti- Semitic mobs in their own countries. They just turned on Israel. They called for us to surrender to Hamas' demands to leave Gaza immediately, they said, end the war without committing to disarm Hamas, without committing to demilitarize Gaza. Had Israel succumbed to those demands, not only would Sinwar and Nasrallah, Assad and Iran's missile and nuclear program remain intact, not only that, because in no time the Hamas killers would be back on the border fence, ready to repeat the horrors of October 7th again and again, as they vowed to do. But just at that point, just at that point of maximum pressure on

Israel, a man named Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States. And, ladies and gentlemen, overnight -- overnight everything changed. Everything.

Mr. President, thanks to your unequivocal backing of Israel, we secured a second hostage deal within weeks of your election. And in the months that followed, we worked closely together to forge a path to bring the remaining hostages home and end the war. End the war in a way that ensures the disarming of Hamas, the demilitarization of Gaza, and that Gaza would never again pose a threat to Israel.

[06:45:02]

Two months ago you fully backed my decision to send the IDF into the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza City. You shared my view that this military pressure would help free the hostages. And despite all the criticism, all the naysayers, we were right. Hamas caved in. And two weeks ago, you succeeded in doing something miraculous. You succeeded in doing something that no one believed was possible. You brought most of the Arab world, you did, you brought most of the world behind your proposal to free the hostages and end the war.

I want to thank Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Ron Dermer for their great contribution to this effort.

And I want to thank our negotiating team. I believe that the close cooperation between the two of us, between our two nations, combining Israel's military pressure and President Trump's unmatched global leadership -- I have to tell you, I've seen a lot of American presidents. I've seen them all in the time that I've been here. And I've been here quite a lot of time. I've never seen anyone move the world so quickly, so decisively, so resolutely as our friend, President Donald J. Trump.

With our military pressure and President Trump's global leadership, we achieved this historic moment. It's a moment of indescribable joy as our nation embraces our sons who are coming home.

Mr. President, this week. Jews around the world -- Jews around the world are going to read the book of Ecclesiastes, Qohelet, in the Bible. The Bible has many miraculous moments. One of them was your decision to bomb Fordo. I think it was a pivot of history because it wasn't meant only to bomb Fordo. That action and your previous action of taking out Qasem Soleimani, the architect of death, I think that changed the balance of power in the world. You brought America back again to the driver's seat.

Now, I said that we were going to read this week the book of Ecclesiastes. It has -- it's not a book of action. It's a book of meditations, of thought, a perspective on life and on death. And in this book we read the immortal words of King Solomon, "to everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."

(Speaking in foreign language).

"A time for peace, and a time for war." The last two years have been a time of war. The coming years will hopefully be a time for peace.

Peace inside Israel and peace outside Israel.

[06:50:00]

I look forward to continuing marching with you on the path we paved together with the Abraham Accords. Under your leadership, we can forge new peace treaties with Arab countries in the region and Muslim countries beyond the region. Abraham's children will work together to build a better future. A future that will unite civilization against barbarism, light against darkness, and hope against despair. And my friends, I believe that with President Trump's leadership this will happen a lot faster than people think.

As prime minister of Israel, I extend my hand to hold those who seek peace with us. No one wants peace more than the people of Israel. Israel will always remain vigilant in defending itself, and Israel will always remain full of hope. Hope is our national anthem. Hope is our creed. Hope is our strength. It is time, my friends, to realize that hope and expand the circle of peace.

Mr. President, thank you for all you have done for us. I have submitted your nomination to be the first non-Israeli recipient of the Israel Prize, Israel's highest award. As to that other prize, just a question of time. You'll get it. But I want you to get the Israel Prize, our highest award, to our greatest friend.

When others were weak, you were strong. When others were fearful, you were bold. When others abandoned us, you stood by our side. On behalf of the government and people of Israel, I thank you for your extraordinary friendship. Thank you for helping bring our hostages home. Thank you for supporting Israel's march to victory. Thank you for paving a path to peace.

NETANYAHU (through translator): Mr. President, my friend Donald, welcome to Israel. Welcome to Jerusalem. Welcome on this very special day. Allowed us to live and brought us to this day.

NETANYAHU: May God bless you and your family, Mr. President. May God bless America. May God bless Israel. And may God bless the covenant between our two promised lands.

Thank you, Mr. President.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Those are the final words from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announcing that he would be giving U.S. President Trump the Israel Prize, the highest honor in Israel, and which would make Trump the first non-Israeli to receive it. You can see the two men shaking hands there. They were repeatedly nodding to each other throughout the speech, in which Netanyahu took the time to speak in English, direct to camera, really addressing the world.

I know that we have Wolf Blitzer, who has been following this all morning. And I don't know if you're there yet, Wolf, but can you talk to me about what you heard in this address? WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I've heard -- I've heard a lot of

Israeli prime ministers over the years, I covered Israel for many years, speak glowingly about American presidents. But I've never heard a prime minister of Israel speak, as Prime Minister Netanyahu did, about President Trump. Basically, praising him nonstop from beginning to end, saying he's the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House and nominating him to win the Israel Prize, which is the highest award in Israel. He was going on and on and on.

And clearly, the prime minister of Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu, is grateful to President Trump for achieving this ceasefire deal, which has now allowed all of the living Israeli remaining hostages to come home. Very significant development indeed.

[06:55:00]

And to allow this ceasefire to continue. Let's see if it continues and expands into a broader peace in the region, which would be excellent to be sure.

But it was really a very special speech. Normally, a prime minister of Israel and speaking in the Knesset would speak in Hebrew and there would be simultaneous English translation. But this time, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he didn't want any confusion. So, he spoke in English, words that President Trump clearly understood as he was sitting there listening and enjoying and appreciating the glory, the great words that the prime minister of Israel gave to him.

So, it was a very special moment in terms of U.S.-Israeli relations, in terms of the relationship between Prime Minister Netanyahu and the president of the United States.

So, we'll just have to see what happens next as this process continues now.

CORNISH: Yes.

BLITZER: It's a sensitive moment to be sure, but let's see what happens.

CORNISH: Yes, of course, we're still in the first phase of this process with all of the remaining hostages released today. And then also these addresses happening today before the Knesset.

Wolf, thanks so much.

And I want to turn now to Dan Senor. He's a former Romney campaign foreign policy adviser. He's also the author of a book called "The Genius of Israel" and "Start-Up Nation."

Dan, good morning. Thank you for being with us.

First, I just want to start with some of what we heard from Netanyahu.

He specifically talked about Operation Rising Lion, the operations against Iran and its nuclear facilities, and pointed to that as a turning point and an inflection point in -- in this war. Can you talk about what you heard and how he talked about these military operations?

DAN SENOR, CO-AUTHOR, "THE GENIUS OF ISRAEL" AND "START-UP NATION": Yes, I think one of the themes of the -- of the speech was he talked about the combination, the partnership of Israel's military capabilities and President Trump's global leadership. He specifically talked about those just a moment ago. And I think if there's any theme to come out of this speech, it is that. It is the idea that when there's no daylight between the U.S. and Israel on confronting these enemies, which Prime Minister Netanyahu and I agree with, would argue is not -- are not only Israel's enemies, but America's enemies. The leadership of -- of the president, the leadership of the U.S., working side by side with Israel's military and intelligence capabilities, that -- that combination, no daylight, extraordinary coordination, extraordinary things can be accomplished for Israel's security. But he -- as he argues, also America's security. And Iran was that inflection point. This was an existential threat that Israel had been stuck, perplexed, in terms of how to deal with for decades. And it wasn't until this moment of June, just a few months ago, that it was finally dealt with in a way that policymakers in Israel and the U.S. thought may never be possible.

CORNISH: Yes.

: And so, I think that's what he's articulating.

CORNISH: Did you also hear a kind of justification for how aggressive Israel felt it had to be? You heard Netanyahu say Israel did what it had to do. You heard it criticizing things that the international community said. And we know that the president was displeased by the attacks on Doha. Do you think that Netanyahu felt like he wanted to tie together all these operations as necessary?

: I think it's important to -- the way I've articulated -- some guests on my podcast, for instance, have articulated is that if you take out the commentary over the last few months and just look at the direction of travel, just look at the events, right, not only the U.S. operation -- U.S. and Israel operation in Iran, but also the Israeli decision to go into Gaza City, which was extremely controversial. It was controversial within Israeli society. It was controversial in the international community. Have -- you, basically everywhere you went, it was controversial that this idea that Israel was going into the heart of Gaza, which was like Hamas' Berlin or Hamas', you know, Moscow, their last stronghold.

But the president was not part of the controversy. The president had basically given Israel a green light to go into Gaza City. He was more supportive of going into Gaza City than the IDF leadership was. And so, I just think all these events, while there have been tensions in the relationship from time to time, as one would expect with two leaders who've had to work together so much, it is -- we've never seen a relationship like this on this coordination of all these big events. Tensions sometimes, yes. But I don't think we would have gotten to this moment. Keep in mind, Audie, all hostages released at once. Every Hamas

proposal in the past has always included two elements. One, that the hostages come out in phases.

CORNISH: Yes.

: And two, the IDF has to do a dramatic, if not total, withdrawal from Gaza. Here, all the hostages were released at once, and Israel is still in over half of Gaza. There are a lot of details still being worked out.

CORNISH: And we're going to hear more today about those details, as you're mentioning, obviously, with this summit happening in Egypt coming up today. And before we get there, we know the president is going to be addressing the Knesset today.

[07:00:05]

Dan Senor, thanks so much. We'll be watching this with you today. Thanks so much.

And, of course, we have this breaking news right now. All the remaining living hostages released from the control of Hamas. We have today Wolf and Kaitlan in Tel Aviv reporting all day. But right now, for this breaking news coverage, we are watching the Israeli parliamentary -- parliament and the Knesset, where the U.S. president is set to speak.

Stay with us.

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