Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday emphasized the importance of his continued leadership for Israel's diplomacy worldwide.
"I have a unique relationship with world leaders, and we can see this in specific instances as well as activities in foreign countries," Netanyahu told Army Radio.
"Like [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin told me, 'If it weren't for you and our relationship, it could be that we would already have a military conflict between the Russia and Israel. Four times already, we were close to conflict.'"
Netanyahu also explained his opposition to the Likud primaries, scheduled to be held on Thursday.
"We are the only democratic movement in the country, not like the other parties which are basically dictatorships," he said. "There's a limit to how much we can obsess about ourselves."
When asked about the question of parliamentary immunity, Netanyahu said, "I'm ignoring that question. Invite me back in another ten days, and I'll give you an answer. Things will become clear very quickly. We have to leave a bit of suspense."
Regarding the possibility that the Supreme Court will prevent him from forming a government after the March 2020 elections, Netanyahu said: "The ones who decide who will lead the nation, is the nation itself, and no one else. First of all there is faith in me: I want to see the votes. As I heard from great legal experts who are not Likud supporters, to say the least, this is the law and it cannot be misinterpreted."
When asked why he promised to annex the Jordan Valley but has not actually done it, Netanyahu said: "I want to bring about US recognition of all the towns in Judea and Samaria, not just of the settlement blocs, all the towns. There's a legal issue to do this during a temporary government."
