Netanyahu spoke one day after the IDF mistakenly shot three of the hostages in Gaza after they escaped their captors.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFUpdated: DECEMBER 17, 2023 00:37Galant and Netanyahu(photo credit: MAARIV)A strong continued and sustained military campaign is the only way to destroy Hamas and ensure that captives in Gaza are freed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as talks continued with Qatar about a hostage deal.
“Without the military pressure, we would not have been able to produce the [former] agreement which resulted in the release of 110 captives,” Netanyahu told reporters in Tel Aviv in a joint press event with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz.
“Only the continuation of the military pressure will lead to the release of all our captives,” the prime minister stated.
“The instructions I give to the negotiating team are based on this military pressure – and without it we have nothing,” he said.
Netanyahu spoke one day after the IDF mistakenly shot three of the hostages in Gaza after they had apparently escaped their captors. The soldiers believed the three Israeli men were Hamas terrorists and not captives, even though they waved a white flag and called out in Hebrew.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears at Tel Aviv’s Kirya base to meet with the war cabinet. (credit: MAARIV)
Netanyahu rejects criticism of maximum-pressure strategy
The event raised questions about the reliance on the IDF’s military campaign to secure the release of over 120 remaining captives in Gaza.
Netanyahu pushed back at that criticism on Saturday night, stating that he held fast to this strategy and had relayed it to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan when he visited Israel last Thursday and Friday.
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Israel will press forward with its “military and diplomatic efforts to bring the hostages home safely,” the premier said.
He spoke after Mossad chief David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe late on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, as attention turned to a possible new pause to the Gaza war that would accompany a new hostage deal.
The meeting between Barnea and Al Thani was apparently the first between senior officials from the two countries since the last deal fell apart at the end of November.
Qatar mediated that agreement together with Egypt, and is working on trying to create a second one.
Israel has been under intense international pressure to halt the war. Sullivan spoke with Netanyahu about moving from a high-intensity to a low-intensity military campaign, even as it backed Israel’s right to wage war against Hamas.
“We are at war for our existence. We must continue the war until we are victorious, despite international pressures and despite the unbearably heavy price that the war exacts from us in the loss of our cherished sons and daughters,” Netanyahu said.
Total victory is the only way to ensure that soldiers have not fallen in vain, he stated.
“We are more determined than ever to continue until the end – until we eliminate Hamas, until we return all our captives, and until we ensure that in Gaza there is no longer any factor that educates about terrorism, finances terrorism, and executes terrorism.”
He pushed back at the US vision that a revitalized Palestinian Authority would control Gaza.
“I will not allow us to replace Hamastan with Fatahstan, or to replace Khan Yunis with Jenin,” Netanyahu stated.
“The debate between Hamas and Fatah is not about whether to eliminate the State of Israel, but only about how to do so,” Netanyahu exclaimed.
The Palestinian Authority has “simply refused to condemn the [October 7] massacre, and some of them even glorify it with relish,” he said, asking how can it rule Gaza after the war: “Have we learned nothing? As prime minister of Israel, I will not let this happen.”
Netanyahu: I am proud that I prevented a Palestinian state
After Hamas is destroyed, the Gaza Strip will be demilitarized and remain under Israeli security control, he stressed.
Netanyahu warned that Israel did not want to repeat the mistake of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which allowed for the creation of a Palestinian Authority and set Israel on a path to a two-state resolution to the conflict.
US President Joe Biden and his top officials have spoken about the importance of returning to a two-state peace process.
Netanyahu, however, stated: “I am proud that I prevent the creation of a Palestinian state” because now everyone understands what would have happened if this had occurred.
He referenced the security cabinet’s decision to open the Kerem Shalom crossing for humanitarian goods, stressing that it was done in conjunction with a US promise to renovate Egypt’s crossing into Gaza. Once that renovation project is completed, the Kerem Shalom crossing will be closed, he said.
Netanyahu also stressed that a solution had to be found for Hezbollah’s threat against Israel on the northern border, explaining that the situation cannot be left as it is, given that the close to 100,000 Israelis who fled that area have to be allowed to return safely.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a serious, blunt message to the Biden Administration on Saturday night, reiterating that regardless of American intentions, Israel will be the only entity to control security in Gaza after the Hamas terrorist organization is eradicated from the enclave. [Full text of Netanyahu’s statement is at the bottom of this article.]
The Biden Administration is continuing to pressure Israel into a post-war capitulation that would leave the “pay to slay” Palestinian Authority government, which rewards Arab terrorists with lifetime monthly payments for murdering Israelis, in control over Gaza.
“It is important to clarify this right now. Because between friends one must tell the truth and not foster illusions, all the more so on an existential and fateful issue like this,” Netanyahu said in a lengthy statement to the nation on Saturday night.
“So I repeat to our friends: after the elimination of Hamas, the Gaza Strip will be demilitarized, it will be under the security control of Israel, and there will be no factor in it that will threaten us and no factor that will educate its children to destroy us,” he emphasized.
A spokesperson for the US State Department told the Tazpit Press Service on Thursday that “Palestinians’ voices and aspirations must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza, unified with the West Bank under the [Palestinian Authority].
“We remain committed to working with the PA and Palestinian leadership on the critical work of strengthening Palestinian institutions … and reinforcing commitments to nonviolence and countering terrorism,” the spokesperson added.
Add to that President Joe Biden’s continued insistence that Israel plan ahead for a mandatory “two-state solution.”
This is, to be clear, delusional thinking.
It is the Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah that continues to this day to reward terrorists who attack and try to kill Israelis with lifetime monthly payments. The families of those who die in such attempts are likewise rewarded.
Such payments are grounds for terminating foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority under the “Taylor Force Act” in the United States, but who’s paying attention to that small detail?
Apparently, the White House is not concerned. Nor are those in living in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, whose admiration for Hamas has skyrocketed since October 7.
Nearly three in four Palestinian Authority Arabs believes that Hamas was right to launch its October 7th invasion of Israel, massacre at least 1,200 citizens and dual nationals and kidnap another 240 people to Gaza, according to the latest survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
The Ramallah-based institute polled 1,231 Arab adults in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria between Nov. 22 and Dec. 2, and found that 72 percent of respondents think Hamas was “correct” in carrying out the slaughter.
Worse, 89 percent of respondents denied the terrorists committed war crimes on October 7th, and a full 95 percent claimed Israel has breached international law during its defensive operation against Hamas in Gaza.
More ominously: More than half of respondents said Hamas is “the most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people today.”
If an election were held in the Palestinian Authority today, Hamas would receive 51 percent of the vote. In a leadership runoff between current PA chief Mahmoud Abbas would easily be ousted by current Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, with the Hamas official getting 78 percent of the vote, and 88 percent of Arabs in the Palestinian Authority saying Abbas needs to resign.
Full Statement by PM Netanyahu:
“Citizens of Israel,
We are in a war for our existence, in which we must continue until victory, despite the international pressure and despite the unbearable cost that the war is exacting from us in our fallen sons and daughters. The State of Israel mourns the tragic deaths of three of our hostages: Alon Shamriz, Samar Talalka and Yotam Haim.
When I was updated about the terrible tragedy – it struck me hard. Alon, Samar and Yotam survived hell for 72 days, they were almost one step from freedom, they had touched redemption and then disaster struck. It broke my heart. It broke the entire country’s heart. Our heart goes out to the families in their time of deep mourning.
At this difficult time, it is important for me to stand by our soldiers. They are giving their lives to achieve a crushing victory over our enemies and return our hostages. We are doing – and will do – everything to safeguard the lives of our soldiers, each and every one of them, and we will use all means so that they are not hurt.
Since the tragedy yesterday, one thought has followed me: ‘What would have happened if something had been different?’ I am certain that we all share this thought. We were so close to embracing them now. But I regret that we cannot turn back the clock. Everyone who has fought on the battlefield knows that the distance between victory and disaster is a hair’s breadth. Out of the immense pain, we will learn and implement the lessons, and we will not relent in the military and diplomatic effort to safely return home all of our hostages.
With all of the deep sorrow, I would like to clarify: The military pressure is essential both for returning the hostages and achieving victory over our enemies. Without the military pressure, we would not have succeeded in creating an outline that led to the release of 110 hostages. And only continued military pressure will lead to the release of all of our hostages. My directive to the negotiating team is based on this pressure, without which we would have nothing.
Citizens of Israel,
On Thursday evening, we lit the last candle of Chanukah. In those days, in the fight for our existence, four of the five Hasmoneans fell and ensured the victory of Israel over an enemy that wanted to eradicate our people. In these days, in fierce battles in Jebalya, Sajaiya, Khan Yunis and other places, the Maccabees of our time have fallen in the fight against an enemy that wants to destroy us. We have lost dear heroes, soldiers and commander of unparalleled bravery and dedication, heroes that fell in battle so that we might continue to live in our land, so that the thread of our lives will not be cut.
Together with you, citizens of Israel, I stand by the bereaved families. I cry with them. Coming from a bereaved family, I know that until their last day they will not stop missing their loved ones and crying over what and who they have lost. I spoke with the widow and parents of Lt.-Col. Tomer Greenberg, the commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, who fell heroically this week together with his soldiers and those under his command. I told them what I say to all of my brothers and sisters from bereaved families, I know that the pain which rends your heart will never relent. But there is one comfort: To ensure that our heroes will not have fallen in vain, to ensure that we will continue to fight until absolute victory is achieved.
I also made this determination clear to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan with whom I met on Thursday. I greatly appreciate the US support for Israel – in the assistance in returning our hostages, in the supply of munitions for the IDF, in blocking the attempts at the UN to stop the fighting, and in other things. I reiterate to our friends: We are more determined than ever to continue to the end – until we eliminate Hamas, return all of our hostages, and ensure that, with G-d’s help, there will not be any element that educates for terrorism, finances terrorism and dispatches terrorism.
I say this to the entire world; many around the world understand this and I repeat it this evening as well. This is not ‘politics’ but policy. This is my policy and today I can say: This is the desire of the vast majority of the country. I will not allow us to replace Hamastan with Fatahstan, that we replace Khan Yunis with Jenin. I will not allow the State of Israel to repeat the fateful mistake of Oslo, which brought to the heart of our country and to Gaza, the most extreme elements in the Arab world, which are committed to the destruction of the State of Israel and who educate their children to this end.
The debate between Hamas and Fatah is not ‘whether’ to eliminate the State of Israel but ‘how’ to do it. According to a poll that was carried out a few days ago, 82% of the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria justifies the horrific massacre of October 7th. As of this moment, the Palestinian Authority senior leadership simply refuses to condemn the massacre and some of them even praise it openly. They will control Gaza on ‘the day after’? Haven’t we learned anything? As the Prime Minister of Israel, I will not allow that to happen.
It is important to make this clear now because among friends we must tell the truth and not foster illusions, how much more so on an existential and fateful issue such as this. Then I reiterate to our friends: After the elimination of Hamas, the Gaza Strip will be demilitarized, will be under Israeli security control, and no element in it will either threaten us or educate its children to destroy us.
I want to tell you, citizens of Israel, that while victory will take time, we are determined to continue until the end, despite the immense pain, despite the bereavement that rends our hearts, despite the international pressure. We will continue until the end. Nothing will stop us – until we achieve victory.
Together we will fight and, with G-d’s help, together we will win.”
Barnea is expected to fly to Europe to discuss continued negotiations for hostage release with Al Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar, for the first time since the collapse of the ceasefire deal.
By JOANIE MARGULIESMossad Director David Barnea speaks during a Conference of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), in Tel Aviv, on September 10, 2023.(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)The head of the Mossad, David Barnea, is expected to meet with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, in Europe this weekend, to discuss the continued negotiations for a deal to release the abductees in Gaza, Israeli media reported.
This will be the first time that a meeting will take place between an Israeli senior official and a Qatari official since the collapse of the week-long ceasefire.
The IDF’s role in coming back to the discussion table comes as families of the hostages increase pressure for their loved ones’ return from Gaza. The previous deal failed two weeks ago after Hamas refused to release the rest of the kidnapped women.
Hamas also continued to launch rockets into Israeli territory, and carried out a shooting in Jerusalem, killing three people including a pregnant woman.
Hamas blamed Israel for the collapse of the deal and said that the women Israel asked to release were IDF soldiers.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant seen with Mossad director David Barnea as part of the war cabinet on November 19, 2023 (credit: PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE)
Re-opening the conversation
According to a report by Axios last week, Qatari mediators reached out to Israeli officials last week to see if there was any interest in re-opening indirect negotiations with the Hamas terror organization.
Mediators reportedly asked Israeli players in the negotiation if they would agree to a deal allowing for the release of captive women and others falling under “humanitarian elements”, like the seriously injured, those with medical problems, and elderly men.
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Following Qatar’s initial proposal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the War Cabinet opposed Barnea’s planned trip to Qatar, Israeli media reported. However, following backlash, Netanyahu changed course and allowed the Mossad head to contact Qatari officials.
