Video: Benjamin Netanyahu Admitted he Negotiated in "Bad Faith" (Oslo, 2001)
Leaked video shows Netanyahu bragged of having derailed the Oslo accords using political trickery
Netanyahu created a loophole — he redefined words to mean whatever he wanted them to mean.
I found a video clip, which was leaked by Turkey’s public broadcaster on May 27, 2021, of Benjamin Netanyahu candidly bragging about how he negotiated in bad faith (about Oslo in 2001) — by making up his own definition of the term “military sites,” then defining this as “security zones”, and then defining that as the Jordan Valley.
Highlights:
This 2001 video contains a number of themes that are still relevant today:
Goal of “Unbearable Pain” (to civilians?): “Hit them hard. Not just one hit, but many painful,, so that the price will be unbearable” — this is designed to make Palestinians more amenable to Israeli demands. (See Dahiya doctrine)
“Absurd” US Support of Israel: “80% of the Americans support us. It's absurd! We have such [great] support there!”
Manipulative: “I know what America is. America is a thing that can be easily moved. ...moved in the right direction. They [Americans] will not bother us.”
Deceptive: Netanyahu bragged about deceiving Clinton, U.S about Oslo.
Source: TRT World, (Turkish Public broadcaster) May 27, 2021, https://youtu.be/mvqCWvi-nFo
Transcript:
Netanyahu: Turn off the camera so that we can elaborate on this.
Narrator: A few minutes later... the camera is turned on again and Netanyahu begins to speak without quotation marks and without masks
Netanyahu: Now we're beginning to understand the meaning of the slogan 'Yesha Zeikan Judea, Samaria, and Azza are here'
Netanyahu: Yesha is everywhere, what is the difference.
Netanyahu: What does Arafat want? He wants one big settlement [implies Palestinians see all of Israel as a settlement].
Woman: Yes that's what my daughter in law who came from England says [i.e. they, Palestinians, see Tel Aviv as a settlement also].
Netanyahu: Tel Aviv is also a settlement. From their point of view [Palestinians], our territorial waters are also theirs.
Netanyahu: The fact is that they want us in the sea. Over there... [gestures] in the distant water.
Netanyahu: The Arabs now are preparing for a campaign [or war] of terror, and they think that this will break us.
Netanyahu: The main thing is, first and foremost, to hit them hard.
Netanyahu: Not just one hit... but many painful, so that the price will be unbearable.
Netanyahu: The price is not unbearable, now.
Netanyahu: A total assault on the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu: To bring them to a state of panic that everything is collapsing.
Netanyahu: ...fear that everything will collapse... this is what we'll bring them to...
Woman interrupts: But wait a minute, at that point the whole world will say 'What are you occupiers?' Netanyahu: The world will say nothing. The world will say that we are defending ourselves.
Woman: Aren't you afraid of the world Bibi Netanyahu: No
Netanyahu: Especially now, with America, I know what America is.
Netanyahu: America is a thing that can be easily moved. ...moved in the right direction.
Netanyahu: They [Americans] will not bother us.
Netanyahu: Let's suppose that they [Americans] will say something [to us - Israelis]... so they say it... [so what?]
Netanyahu: 80% of the Americans support us.
It's absurd! We have such [great] support there!
And we say... what shall we do with this [support]?
Look, the other administration (that of Clinton) was pro-Palestinian in an extreme way.
I was not afraid to manuever there. I did not fear confrontation with Clinton.
I was not afraid to clash with the U.N.
Netanyahu: As it is, I am paying the price in the international arena...
So I might as well receive something of equal value in exchange.
Child: But never mind that. We gave them things, and we can’t take them back. Because they won’t give them back to us.
Netanyahu: [Gestures for child to let him speak] First of all, Oslo is a system [or package of things].
You're right, a) I do not know what can and cannot be taken back [from Palestinians] Woman: He has political opinions, believe me.
Netanyahu: He's right.
Woman: He said such things to Arik Sharon that I told him: that’s not that’s not a child s opinion. The Oslo Accords are a disaster.
Netanyahu: Yes, I know that and you know that... but the people need to know
Woman: Right. But I thought that the prime minister did know, and that he’d do everything so that, somehow, not to do critical things, like handing over Hebron, that?
Netanyahu: What were the Oslo Accords? The Oslo Accords, which the Knesset signed, I was asked, before the elections: ‘Will you act according to them? and I answered: ‘Yes, subject to reciprocity and limiting the withdrawals.’
Netanyahu: But how do you limit the withdrawals? I interpret the accords in such a way that will enable me to stop this rush toward '67 borders [returning to armistice line]. [So...] how do we do it?
Narrator: The Oslo Accords stated at the time that Israel would gradually hand over territories to the Palestinians in three different stages, unless the territories in question had settlements or military sites. This is where Netanyahu found a loophole.
Netanyahu: No one said what defined military sites. Defined military sites, I said, were security zones. As far as I’m concerned, the Jordan Valley is a defined military site.
Woman: Right [laughs]. The Beit She’an settlements. The Beit She’an Valley.
Netanyahu: How can you tell. How can you tell? But then the question came up of just who would define what Defined Military Sites were. I received a letter to me and to Arafat, at the same time...
which said that Israel, and only Israel, would be the one to define what those are, the location of those military sites and their size. Now, they did not want to give me that letter, so I did not give the Hebron Agreement.
I stopped the government meeting, I said: I’m not signing.? Only when the letter came, in the course of the meeting, to me and to Arafat, only then did I sign the Hebron Agreement.
Or rather, ratify it, it had already been signed. Why does this matter? Because at that moment I actually stopped the Oslo Accord.
Woman interrupts: And despite that, one of our own people, excuse me, who knew it was a swindle, and that we were going to commit suicide with the Oslo Accord, gives them for example Hebron. I never understood that.
Netanyahu: Indeed, Hebron hurts. It hurts. It’s the thing that hurts. One of the famous rabbis, whom I very much respect, a rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, he said to me: ?What would your father say?
I went to my father. Do you know a little about my father’s position? Woman: Yes Child: No [laughs] Woman: He'll read in a little while.
Netanyahu: He’s not exactly a lily-white dove, as they say. So my father heard the question and said: 'Tell the rabbi that your grandfather, Rabbi Natan Milikowski, was a smart Jew.'
'Tell him it would be better to give two percent than to give a hundred percent. And that’s the choice here. You gave two percent and in that way you stopped the withdrawal. Instead of a hundred percent.'
Netanyahu: The trick is not to be there and break down. The trick is to be there and pay a minimal price.
Woman: May you say that as prime minister.
Netanyahu: In my estimation that will happen.
Snopes Fact Check: Mostly True
To help skeptical readers assess the authenticity of the clip, I did research and found a Snopes fact check of it. They found a small issue with their transcript, but overall they cited Tablet magazine — an “online outlet about Jewish life and identity” — in confirming that the video accurately depicts how Netanyahu negotiated in bad faith.
Snopes’ analysis:
He [Netanyahu] did not, however, explicitly suggest using self-defense as a means to achieve aggressive military action or that the United States would help push that narrative.
The chief significance of the video, as described in a [July 15,] 2010 article for Tablet, was that it showed Netanyahu bragging "of having derailed the Oslo accords with political trickery."
Legacy Media’s failed coverage (May 27, 2021):
It is notable that:
No major Western news outlets (e.g. NYT, BBC, Haaretz, Times of Israel) appear to have published full reports on the 2001 footage
Instead, it was disseminated via social platforms and niche online communities on May 27, 2021.
The video resurfaced on platforms like TikTok, X, Instagram, and user communities like Reddit—feeding into viral circulation before broader archival or mainstream reporting.
Background: Oslo (ChatGTP)
1. Oslo I Accord (1993)
Signed in Washington, D.C., on September 13, 1993
Signatories: Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, mediated by U.S. President Bill Clinton
Major Elements:
Mutual recognition: Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people; the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist
Palestinian self-government: Established the Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza
Phased withdrawal: Israel would withdraw from parts of Gaza and the West Bank
Final status negotiations: Issues like Jerusalem, refugees, borders, and settlements were postponed
2. Oslo II Accord (1995)
Expanded on Oslo I, signed in Taba, Egypt, and later in Washington
Divided the West Bank into:
Area A: Full Palestinian control (mainly urban areas)
Area B: Palestinian civil control, Israeli security control
Area C: Full Israeli control (over 60% of the West Bank)
Scheduled elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council
⚖️ Legacy
While initially hailed as a breakthrough, the Oslo Accords today are often seen as a failed peace process that produced limited autonomy without resolving core conflicts. Critics argue it entrenched occupation rather than ending it.
Elsewhere
It's now clear: the Oslo peace accords were wrecked by Netanyahu's bad faith, Avi Shlaim, The Guardian, 9/12/2013.
ORIGINAL VIDEO: (Hebrew)
Source: Israeli Channel (10?), 2010d, https://youtu.be/qBFihtGYFSg
Sourcing: (via ChatGTP)
Here are verified sources where you can access embedded video clips and English-subtitled transcripts of the 2001 leaked Netanyahu footage. These form the strongest publicly available documentary sourcing:
📺 Embedded Video Sources (Platforms & Clips)
1. TRT World (Twitter May 27, 2021) (TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook)
Video titled: “A leaked video from 2001 shows Israeli PM Netanyahu…”
TikTok clip streamed, showing Netanyahu saying: “strike them… not once, but several times, so painfully” Wikipedia+13TikTok+13Instagram+13Instagram+4YouTube+4Facebook+4
Also posted on Instagram reel with identical content and phrasing Instagram+1
Facebook repost includes the full snippet with quotes about U.S. manipulation and settlement tactics Facebook+1
2. YouTube Mirror Clips
Benjamin Netanyahu caught bragging in 2001 leaked video – features the English-subtitled snippet with the famous quote and brief translation on-screen TikTok+6YouTube+6Instagram+6
I Deceived the US to Destroy Oslo Accords. English Subtitles – longer clip (10+ minutes), including Hebrew excerpts interpreted in English text overlays, showing Netanyahu explaining how he “defined military sites” to sabotage Oslo Reddit+8YouTube+8The Electronic Intifada+8
📝 English Transcript Sources
1. +972 Magazine / Electronical Intifada (via Jonathan Cook)
Article “Netanyahu on leaked video: Clinton administration was ‘extremely pro‑Palestinian,’ I stopped Oslo” (July 2010) +972 Magazine+1
Includes verbatim transcript excerpts:
“The Oslo Accords… The trick is not to be there and be broken… the trick is to be there and pay a minimal price.”
“America is something that can be easily moved… They won’t get in our way. Eighty percent of Americans support us. It’s absurd.” The Electronic Intifada
2. Richard Silverstein transcript (cited within 972mag article)
Provides additional exchanges:
Woman: “The Oslo Accords are a disaster.”
Netanyahu: “I answered: yes… subject to mutuality and limiting retreats… by interpreting the accords such that… I could stop this galloping…” +972 Magazine