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60 Minutes, May 10, 2026: "You Go In, and You Take It Out"

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED. The exchange is in CBS News's published full transcript of the interview.

In May 2026, Benjamin Netanyahu gave his first American television interview of the second war, to Major Garrett of CBS's 60 Minutes. CBS aired about 14 minutes of an interview that ran well over an hour and published the full transcript. The key exchange is about Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, about 400 kilograms of it by Senator Angus King's count, and it is the closest any Israeli leader has come on camera to describing American ground troops in Iran.

The exchange​

From CBS's full transcript:

Garrett: "How do you envision the highly enriched uranium will be removed from Iran?"

Netanyahu: "You go in, and you take it out."

Garrett: "With what? Special Forces from Israel, Special Forces from the United States working in tandem under international supervision? How?"

Netanyahu: "I'm not gonna talk about military means, but the pres-- what President Trump has said to me, 'I want to go in there.'"

Asked whether the uranium could be taken by force without an agreement: "Well, you're gonna ask me these questions. I'm gonna dodge them." He said the war "accomplished a great deal, but it's not over, because there's still nuclear material, enriched-- uranium that has to be taken out," and, as an X news summary quoted him, "I think it can be done physically" (X news summary, May 10, 2026).

In the same interview he said he wants "to draw down to zero the American financial support" for Israel's military over the next decade.

Watch it: CBS News, "Iran war is 'not over' until highly enriched uranium is removed"; RealClearPolitics video, May 11, 2026.

What "you go in" means​

Taking uranium out of buried, bombed Iranian nuclear sites means people on the ground, inside Iran, for as long as it takes to find it, dig it out, and carry it away under fire. Garrett offered the two candidates: Israeli special forces or American. Netanyahu declined to choose, then quoted the American President: "I want to go in there."

How the press read it:

  • The Jerusalem Post's diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote a "what he said, didn't say" analysis the next day, highlighting that Netanyahu called the war "not yet over" (Jerusalem Post, May 11, 2026).
  • Middle East Eye headlined that he "hints at US troop deployment" (Middle East Eye, May 11, 2026).
  • Journalist Ben Swann asked the obvious question on X: if no Israeli ground troops go in, whose troops would? (Ben Swann on X, May 12, 2026)

Four days later, in the Senate​

On May 14, Senator Richard Blumenthal asked the commander of U.S. Central Command whether "taking possession of that uranium would require boots on the ground and significant casualties for United States forces." Admiral Brad Cooper: "in this particular forum I think it would be highly inappropriate, given the classified nature of any contingencies, to talk about the nuclear program" (Blumenthal).

Two months later, the plan​

On July 27 the New York Post reported what its sources called "the most sophisticated operation in military history": "Thousands of ground troops to storm heavily fortified sites, with a small team of elite commandos tasked with grabbing the enriched uranium" (as relayed by Chay Bowes on X). The ground troops in that plan are American. The Times of Israel had already explained that Israeli boots would stay "closer to home" (Ground Component).

Why this clip matters most​

No Israeli leader has been recorded saying "send American soldiers into Iran." This is as close as the record comes, and it is close enough: Israel's prime minister, on American television, saying the war is "not over" until someone goes into Iran and physically takes the uranium out, declining to say whether it would be Israeli or American forces, and citing the American President's wish to "go in there." Within ten weeks, the Pentagon's plan for that mission called for thousands of American ground troops.

Status: Benjamin Netanyahu, Major Garrett, Herb Keinon, Ben Swann, Richard Blumenthal, Brad Cooper, and Angus King are alive.

Sources​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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