"It's not going to escalate the conflict, it's going to end the conflict," Netanyahu said about plans to take out the Iranian leader in an interview with ABC News.
He made the remarks in response to a question from ABC News' chief correspondent in Washington regarding reports that former US President Donald Trump had rejected an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader, fearing it would escalate the conflict.
Asked if Israel would indeed target the supreme leader, Netanyahu said that Israel was "doing what we need to do.""I'm not going to get into the details, but we've targeted their top nuclear scientists," Netanyahu said. "It's essentially Hitler's nuclear team."
He added that it is in the United States' interest to support Israel in its efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear programme.Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two US officials told Reuters.
"Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we're not even talking about going after the political leadership," said one of the sources, a senior US administration official.