Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel needs to be “free” from military dependence on the United States and develop its own weapons-production capabilities, arguing that this is needed to support the ongoing fight with Iran and its terror proxies.

Speaking during a meeting with reserve combat officers in the West Bank’s Gush Etzion settlement bloc, Netanyahu said: “I greatly appreciate the support we have received — and that I have secured over the years — from our American friends.”

“But today I say: We need our own independent weapons-production system. We must manufacture our own armaments,” he said.

“We are now confronting Iran and its proxies. We have struck them hard. It is not over yet, but it depends on our strength. Where we will be in 30 years depends on our strength,” the premier continued.

“We need to free ourselves from dependence, continue building more and more strength, incorporate more and more technology, and train more and more generations of commanders like you — because ultimately, that is what will determine our position,” Netanyahu said.

US and Israeli officials have said that recently-begun talks on a new 10-year US-Israel security cooperation framework seek to “gradually transition” the relationship “from aid to a completely reciprocal partnership.”

The prime minister has vowed for months to end US military aid to Israel over the next decade, but Tuesday’s remarks came at a particularly tense moment, amid increasing concern in Jerusalem over the US placing limitations on its freedom of........

© The Times of Israel