Speaking at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticizes those “in the international community who are trying to halt the war now, before all its objectives are achieved.”
Netanyahu’s remarks in Hebrew are likely aimed at references made last week by US Senator Chuck Schumer calling for elections in Israel and the growing criticism from the Biden White House over Netanyahu’s handling of the conflict.
The prime minister asserts that those advocating to end the war do so “by making false accusations against the IDF, against the Israeli government, and against the prime minister of Israel. They do this by attempting to instigate elections now, in the midst of the war.”
Directing his comments to Israel’s “friends in the international community,” Netanyahu questions, “Is your memory so short? Did you forget so quickly October 7, the most horrific massacre committed against Jews since the Holocaust? Are you so swiftly prepared to deny Israel the right to defend itself against the monsters of Hamas? Have you lost your moral conscience so swiftly?”
He urges international pressure to be applied on Hamas and Iran rather than on Israel.
“No amount of international pressure will deter us from achieving all the goals of the war: eradicating Hamas, securing the release of all our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu insists.
“We must not yield to these pressures, and we will not yield to them,” Netanyahu emphasizes.
He also assures that the IDF will operate in Rafah “with caution.”
“It will take a few weeks, but it will be done,” he states.
“Those who claim that the operation in Rafah will not occur are the same ones who said that we would not enter Gaza, that we would not operate in Shifa, that we would not operate in Khan Younis, and that we would not resume fighting after the ceasefire in November,” Netanyahu adds.
