Claim: Amid Israel’s conflict with Iran, its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also threatened Pakistan, saying his country’s “greatest mission” is to prevent “a militant Islamic regime” from acquiring nuclear weapons. After the Islamic Republic, Pakistan is the second country on his list, he said.
Fact: The interview is not recent, but from 2011, and it is unrelated to the 2025 Iran-Israel conflict. Moreover, a crucial part of Netanyahu’s response was cut out, misrepresenting what he said. The Israeli PM did say that his country’s mission was to prevent “militant Islamic regimes” from getting nuclear weapons, but he specified that Pakistan will be considered a threat, second to Iran, should “a Taliban takeover of Pakistan” ever take place.
On 14 June 2025, Pakistan Nazriati Party (PNP) Chairperson Shaheer Haider Malik Sialvi, as well as many other Facebook users, posted a video showing an interview of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the video in question, Netanyahu can be heard saying “the greatest mission” of Israel “is to prevent a militant Islamic regime from meeting up with nuclear weapons” and noted that the first priority is Iran and “the second is called Pakistan”.
The Israeli premier’s full comment in the video is as follows:
“I said that the greatest mission that we have is to prevent a militant Islamic regime from meeting up with nuclear weapons or from nuclear weapons meeting up with a militant Islamic regime. The first is called Iran. The second is called Pakistan. Because if these radical regimes have nuclear weapons, they will not obey the rules that have been obeyed in the last almost seven decades.”
Sialvi captioned the video as follows:
“ایران کے بعد پاکستان۔۔۔۔ نیتن یاہو کی دھمکی. مسلمانوں یاد رکھو! دشمن ایک ہے!
[After Iran, Pakistan… Netanyahu’s threat. Remember Muslims! The enemy is one!]”
The video was shared by other Facebook users with similar captions.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check searched for verified news reports about Netanyahu making such comments in 2025 but did not find any relevant results.
We then reverse-searched keyframes from the viral video and found the original interview, which is available on החדשות, the YouTube channel of the now-defunct Hebrew-language Channel 2, or The Second Channel, here (archive).
The video (archive), titled “A World View Interview with Benjamin Netanyahu”, was uploaded on 31 March 2011. It has received more than 435,000 views to date. The interviewer was Israeli journalist Dana Weiss.
Additionally, the transcript of the full interview is available on the Israeli government’s website (archive), published in 2011 by the Prime Minister’s Office under ‘Events and Speeches’. The page specifies that it was aired during the 32nd government, which was led by Netanyahu.
Weiss’ question — which can be viewed at the 25:34 mark in the YouTube video — and the Israeli PM’s response are transcribed as follows:
Weiss: “Let’s go to the third question and that would be: What is the biggest problem facing the next generation and what should we do to solve it today? That’s a big question… Let’s see if you can try [and] give us an answer.”
Netanyahu: “I just gave the answer. I said that the greatest mission that we have is to prevent a militant Islamic regime from meeting up with nuclear weapons or from nuclear weapons meeting up with a militant Islamic regime. The first is called Iran, the second is called Pakistan, or more specifically a Taliban takeover of Pakistan. Because if these radical regimes have nuclear weapons, they will not obey the rules that have been obeyed in the last almost seven decades. And they can threaten our world. So the first thing is to stop them from getting nuclear weapons. That’s mission number one and mission number two is to find a substitute for oil. That would make our planet safe, that would make our planet clean. These are the two great missions for our generation and the next one.”
The premier specified that Israel would consider Pakistan a “militant Islamic regime” that could not be trusted with nuclear weapons in the event that “a Taliban takeover of Pakistan” takes place.
Therefore, Soch Fact Check concludes that the claim does not depict Netanyahu’s complete remarks and presents them without context. His response is not from 2025 either and he said that a Taliban-led government in Pakistan, not just Pakistan, would be considered “a militant Islamic regime” and a threat to the world.
The same claim went viral in 2022 and 2023 as well and we debunked it here.
Virality
The post by Sialvi has been viewed over 107,000 times so far.
Soch Fact Check found the video posted here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, where it has garnered more than 186,000, 75,000, 6,200, 8,800, 7,600, 4,600, and 3,100 views, respectively.
It was also shared here, here, and here on Instagram, here, here, and here on Threads, and here, here, here, here, and here on Twitter.
Interestingly, Aniqa Nisar — the host of ARY News talk show “Aiteraz Hai” — ran the same old and manipulated video in an episode aired on 14 June 2025; this can be viewed at the 4:56 mark. While she acknowledged that the clip is not recent, it is still cut off in the middle and does not include Netanyahu saying “a Taliban takeover of Pakistan”.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah — who belongs to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz-Nawaz (PML-N) party — also spoke about the video in the same TV programme, believing it to be true. Explaining one of the reasons why his country should stand in solidarity with Iran, he said, “On the other side is a very cruel enemy of Islam — not just an enemy of Iran or an enemy of Palestine — but a country that is an enemy of Islam and a militant type of person is in power there: Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Then, at the 21:45 mark, he says, “You might have seen his interview in the last few days, in which he is very clearly saying and presenting his argument that the biggest and the first threat is Iran’s nuclear programme and he actually mentioned Pakistan.” To which Nisar, the host, responds, “The second [country] is Pakistan. I just played that interview [in my show].”
A snippet of the minister’s remarks were uploaded to YouTube as a separate video as well.
ARY News broadcast Sanaullah’s remarks as a report, which was posted on the channel’s social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook (here and here), and TikTok. The programme is also available to view on the outlet’s website and Dailymotion.
Conclusion: The interview in question is from 2011 and it is unrelated to the 2025 Iran-Israeli conflict. A crucial part of Netanyahu’s response was cut out from the clip shared in the claim. The Israeli PM specified that Pakistan will be considered a “militant Islamic regime” and a threat to the world should “a Taliban takeover of Pakistan” ever take place.
Background image in cover photo: Netanyahu
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