Netanyahu to US: We'll Stop Iran if You Don't

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu comes out swinging against a nuclear Iran in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic, warning that if the US doesn’t stop the country, Israel will. “You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs,” he said. “When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying.”

Netanyahu does not seem eager to go it alone and stressed that a nuclear Iran is not in the interests of the US, either. “This is an existential threat for Israel, but it will be a blow for American interests,” he said. But mostly he sees a profound—and disastrous—naiveté in the world. Iran puts “its zealotry above its self-interest. People say that they’ll behave like any other nuclear power,” Netanyahu says. “Can you take the risk?” (More Israel stories.)