Former Jeffrey Epstein lawyer Alan Dershowitz argued Monday that President Donald Trump’s path to becoming known as a true “peace president” runs directly through confronting Iran, including supporting regime change in Tehran and giving Israel the green light to strike Iranian nuclear facilities if necessary.
Appearing on Newsmax, Dershowitz said Trump is clearly moving closer to Israel at a time when much of the international community is drifting away. According to Dershowitz, that shift sends a powerful and necessary message to Iran.
“The rest of the world is moving away from Israel, but Trump is moving closer and closer to Israel,” Dershowitz said. He argued that Trump has already warned Iran against developing the capability to launch rockets at Israeli civilian cities or expanding its nuclear weapons program. If Iran crosses that line, Dershowitz suggested, it would face serious consequences.
Dershowitz pointed to the implicit threat of U.S. military power, referencing the use of B-2 bombers, as a signal that Iran should take Trump’s warnings seriously. But he also emphasized that Israel does not necessarily need American military involvement to act.
“But you know, Israel doesn’t even need American support,” Dershowitz said. “All Israel needs is a green light from Donald Trump to go in on its own and destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
In Dershowitz’s view, the deeper issue goes far beyond any single strike. He argued that peace in the Middle East is impossible as long as the current Iranian regime remains in power. According to Dershowitz, Tehran is the central obstacle to stability in the region.
“Look, in the end, there will never be peace in the Middle East unless there’s regime change in Iran,” he said. Dershowitz described Iran’s leadership as the “major barrier” to peace and argued that removing it would open the door to broader regional agreements.
He said that if President Donald Trump truly wants to cement his legacy as the peace president, he must support regime change in Iran. Dershowitz added that such a shift would make possible major diplomatic breakthroughs, including deals involving Saudi Arabia and other regional powers.
The comments came as Trump has publicly signaled strong backing for Israel and warned Iran against further escalation. Dershowitz framed that posture as a stark contrast to what he sees as weakness or equivocation from other global leaders.
During the same interview, Dershowitz also addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, firmly rejecting the idea of a near-term two-state solution. He argued that Palestinians have not yet demonstrated the conditions necessary for statehood.
“Look, Palestinians haven’t earned themselves a state,” Dershowitz said. He compared the situation to the long historical process that led to the creation of Israel, arguing that statehood requires years of institution-building and responsible governance.
“You can’t just create a state out of nothing,” he said. Dershowitz suggested that a Palestinian state could only exist in the future if it were free of terrorist groups such as Hamas and led by different leadership. Until then, he said, statehood remains a distant aspiration rather than a realistic option.
Dershowitz concluded that while peace in the Middle East is possible, it depends on confronting hard realities. In his telling, that means standing firmly with Israel, dismantling the Iranian regime, and refusing to rush into solutions that ignore security and accountability.
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