Benjamin Netanyahu press conference – Haim Zach (GPO) May 2023
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defying US President Joe Biden, declaring that Israel intends to continue with its assault against the terrorist group Hamas by moving into the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Netanyahu made the comments in an interview with Politico after President Biden warned against such a move in an interview the President gave MSNBC. He also declared his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian State.
“We’ll go there,” Netanyahu said about sending the Israeli military into Rafah. “We’re not going to leave them.”
He also responded to President Biden’s statement that such an action would cross a “red line” by saying, “You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is? That October 7 doesn’t happen again. Never happens again.”
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Benjamin Netanyahu also told Politico that he is not the one making the decision to move forward. Netanyahu asserted that the decision is being made by the Israeli public saying, “These are not my private policies, only. They’re policies supported by the overwhelming majority of the Israelis.”
“They (the Israeli public) support the action that we’re taking to destroy the remaining terrorist battalions of Hamas,” he added. “They say that once we destroy the Hamas, the last thing we should do is put in Gaza, in charge of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority that educates its children towards terrorism and pays for terrorism.”
And that is not all. Benjamin Netanyahu also told Politico that there are some Arab nations who agree with him.
“They understand that, and even agree with it quietly,” he said. “They understand Hamas is part of the Iranian terror axis.”
Netanyahu also declared that he is no longer willing to see the establishment of a Palestinian State, claiming that a majority of Israelis “support my position that says that we should resoundingly reject the attempt to ram down our throats a Palestinian state.”
The Prime Minister feels that such an independent state would only make it possible for there to be another October 7 type massacre in the future.
Benjamin Netanyahu went on to assert that Israelis agree with him on this saying, “the majority of Israelis understand that if we don’t do this, what we’ll have is a repetition of the October 7th massacre, which is bad for Israel, bad for the Palestinians, bad for the future of peace in the Middle East. So, the attempt to say that my policies are my private policies that are not supported by most Israelis, is false.”
However, while Israel remains united in the aftermath of the October 7 attack, there is little evidence to support Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Israeli support his policies. Polls indicate that if elections were held now he would not be returned to office.
