Netanyahu says he's lost a 'beloved friend' after the death of Lindsey Graham: Full interview

[0:00] And joining me now is Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, another longtime friend and [0:05] ally of Senator Lindsey Graham. Prime Minister Netanyahu, welcome back to Meet the Press [0:10] and my condolences to you. Well, thank you. I'm frankly in a state of shock because as [0:19] President Trump said, Lindsey was so vibrant. He was so full of life. He was so full of energy [0:25] and dedication that it's hard to accept the fact that he is no more. I think America [0:34] has lost a great patriot. Israel has lost one of the great champions of the American-Israeli [0:39] alliance. And frankly, I've lost a beloved friend who I've had for many decades. There's [0:47] just no one like him. Well, Mr. Prime Minister, Senator Graham was one of the leading voices [0:54] advocating for Israel, advocating for expanding the Abraham Accords. Every time I talked to [0:59] him, he wanted to talk about this. Mr. Prime Minister, what does his loss mean, not only [1:06] for you, but the people of Israel? What do you think the impact is globally? [1:12] In Israel, it's grief. In Iran, it's celebration because Lindsey never confused good and evil. He [1:22] knew exactly where the Iranian regime is. He thought it was a great danger, not merely to [1:27] Israel and to America's allies in the Middle East, but to America itself. And he just never [1:32] wavered. You know, he was so clear. He had clarity. He had courage. He had the convictions that he [1:38] believed were at the basis of America. That's, I always use it like the Superman comics. You remember [1:44] freedom, justice, and the American way. He represented these traditional values. And, Christian, he never [1:52] flinched. He was just, he was absolutely uncaring about the winds of fashion. You know, he believed [2:00] something. He spoke about it. He spoke about it directly and with candor. And if he wanted to tell [2:05] me something unpleasant, he would do so, you know, in his Southern drawl. And sometimes I always say that [2:12] I knew something bad was coming when he said, well, you know, you want to take it from a good old Southern [2:17] born for me, who doesn't know much about the world. And then he'd bring it in. You know, he was so, he was so [2:24] smart and so full of conviction and dedication that it's these qualities. I think the president spoke about it. [2:32] He was at once a great politician, but I think beyond that, I think he was just an incredible patriot for [2:39] America. [2:39] You talked about the fact that he has as many friends and some enemies. You heard President [2:46] Trump say he could be a tough cookie. He talked about the fact that Iran had threatened him. [2:52] Did he have concerns? How did he process the fact that he was quite outspoken and not afraid [2:59] to engage in tough debates? [3:03] Well, he was, he was absolutely fearless. You know, we spoke about it more than once, [3:08] but he, he was fearless as he should be. He's a, he's a leader in public life and you have to take [3:16] those risks. But I frankly hope to have many more years of friendship with him and enjoyed his, [3:24] just his indefatigable and incorrigible honesty. He was, he was very honest about his views. [3:31] And the amazing thing about Lindsey Graham is he, he put it directly, you know, he said, [3:35] you know, I, I stand with Israel openly. I have a, I know that the winds of fashion blow in another [3:42] way. I couldn't care less. Sometimes he'd incorporate some words that I won't repeat now, [3:49] but he was just so clear, so courageous, both for his own personal safety, but also for what he [3:57] believed was absolutely necessary for America. And he believed that Israel's security and America's [4:04] security are intertwined. He, it wasn't just a spin or anything like that. It was something he, [4:08] he held deeply for many decades. And I, I could see his, his contributions because he always, [4:15] he sometimes tried to out-negotiate me. You know, we were, it's just unbelievable. You know, [4:22] we were, we had with three American presidents, with President Clinton, President Obama, and President [4:27] Trump, we had a number of understandings for support for Israel's military, which by the [4:33] way, I think we have time now to, we've come of age and we're able to draw them down to zero. [4:40] But he would argue with me. He would say, no, you know, for ballistic missile defense, [4:45] that's important for you. It's important for America. Whatever is the number, it has to be bigger. [4:49] And I said, Lindsey, we can do with a smaller number. He said, no, you can't. And then he would go to [4:55] the Senate and actually, can you imagine this? He would outbid the prime minister of Israel. He [5:01] said, I'm not getting a single vote in South Carolina for that because, you know, there are [5:06] very few Jews in South Carolina and the people, yes, they support Israel, my, my constituency, [5:12] but I support Israel and I think you need more. And I'm going to fight for this. This is who Lindsey [5:17] Graham was. He went with his convictions and yet he was an amazing, amazingly able politician to be [5:24] able to talk to people on the other side of the aisle. And he did that very often. [5:28] He loved engaging in the debate. And it's so fascinating to hear you say that he was not [5:35] afraid to out debate you on this core issue for Israel. If he were here today, and it's still just [5:42] such a shock that he's not, he would want to talk about Iran. He would want to talk about the conflict [5:47] with Iran, Mr. Prime Minister. I spoke to him throughout the course of this week. He thought that a more robust [5:53] military operation was needed in this moment after President Trump had declared the ceasefire over. [5:58] Do you agree with that? Or are you on the same page with President Trump about that? How do you see [6:03] this moving forward? I think President Trump wants to exhaust the possibility of achieving an agreement, [6:12] especially on the nuclear issue through negotiations. But he is obviously not, not shy of using force [6:19] when the Iranians break every commitment they make and usually a few hours or a few minutes after they [6:25] make it. So I think we should let the president have his opportunity. You know, Israel is keenly grateful [6:33] for the fact that America and Israel joined forces to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons and the [6:42] means to deliver them, not only against us, but against the entire West and against the United States. [6:48] Now, people don't understand how close that was. And the fact that we had these two operations, [6:54] which are called Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury, we call Rising Line and Roaring Line. We actually [7:04] drove it back. We removed this immediate and present danger of Iran with nuclear weapons that would [7:10] have posed a danger to everybody. And I think that Lindsey, Lindsey was unabashed. He talked to me [7:17] about it. He said, you know, you have to do it. You have to do it. He came to me and said, Bibi, [7:22] you have to do it. You have to knock out these nuclear weapons programs before they knock us out. He was very clear [7:29] about that. By the way, as was President Trump throughout the many years that I've known him. [7:34] So he didn't, he didn't move, you know, he didn't say, oh, well, maybe it's not fashionable to say it [7:41] now. Maybe public opinion has turned against it. He couldn't care less. I mean, he was aware of it, [7:46] but it didn't change his convictions. And he did what he thought was good for America. And he thought [7:52] that a strong Israel is good for a strong America and vice versa, of course. [7:56] Before I let you go, I do want to give you the opportunity, if you would like to respond to [8:01] Congressman Ro Khanna, he is going to be on this broadcast. He says he visited the West Bank. He [8:06] was blocked by settlers wielding guns. He says the IDF did not help fuse this situation. Do you have [8:15] any comment on that this morning, Mr. Prime Minister? Yeah, we're a country of laws and people who break [8:21] the law. We take them to court. The, in the West Bank, in Judea and Siberia, we've had thousands, [8:29] thousands of attempted attacks and warnings against terrorist activities, against innocent [8:36] Israelis, families, mother with their children driving along the road. They're stopped by terrorists [8:41] and they kill them. And this has happened again and again and again. There is a vigilante effort, [8:47] not by the settler community. There are 99.9 percent, you know, law-abiding citizens. They [8:56] work, they serve in the army and so on. There are 150 juvenile delinquents that are not part of that [9:03] community. They come from the other parts of Israel. We are, I don't want vigilantes of any kind. [9:09] And we are working to put them under the law. But I think if we put things in perspective, [9:15] we should see that we have thousands of attacks and some few, but obvious breaking of the law, [9:23] then we apply the full measure of the law against them. Israel, unlike our neighbors, [9:28] is a democracy and a country of law, and we act against those who break the law. [9:33] Well, as you have said, one of your staunchest allies was Senator Lindsey Graham. And we cannot [9:39] thank you enough for coming on this program to remember his life and this legacy in this [9:45] moment of national mourning. Thank you so much, Mr. Prime Minister. We really appreciate it. [9:49] Thank you. Thank you very much. [9:51] We thank you for watching. And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app [9:57] or watch live on our YouTube channel.