Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the LCI channel this Thursday, May 30, during an interview. He notably estimated that “the victory of Israel is the victory against anti-Semitism”.
A message to France. This Thursday, May 30, the LCI channel broadcast an interview with Benyamin Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister was questioned about the situation in the Gaza Strip, the offensives carried out in Rafah and the fate of the Hamas hostages. During this interview, he notably considered that “the victory of Israel is the victory of France”. “Our victory – it’s your victory,” he declared in French from Tel Aviv. “Our victory is the victory of Israel against anti-Semitism, it is the victory of Judeo-Christian civilization against barbarism. It is the victory of France,” he assured on the channel of TV.
Asked about the arrest warrant requested by the prosecutor general of the International Criminal Court against him and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Prime Minister defended himself. “It’s not about me. It’s about the State of Israel,” he said. “It is the right of the only Jewish state to defend itself in the years following the Holocaust. And the Hague prosecutor is fighting this right through two falsifications. The first is to make a false equivalence between the leaders democratically elected representatives of Israel and the leaders of Hamas (…) The second attack is that they say that we have a policy which consists of starving civilians. This is absolutely false. retort.
The strikes in Rafah
A deadly bombing hit a displaced persons camp in Rafah on Sunday May 26. Despite international outrage, the Israeli army continued its strikes. “Every civilian death is a tragedy. Every time I see a child or a woman, or an innocent civilian die, for us, it’s a tragedy. But for Hamas, it’s a strategy. They knowingly use civilians as human shields”, he said, recalling that “in Mali, French forces while seeking to target terrorist commanders accidentally bombed a wedding, causing a large number of civilian deaths”. “But I would not say that Macron is a war criminal,” concluded the Israeli Prime Minister on this point.
He also compared the operation in Rafah to the landing of allied troops in Normandy in June 1944. “When we go to Rafah, it is the equivalent of the landing in Normandy, of their attack against Germany. And the people will say: ‘we can leave 20% of the Nazi army intact, don’t return to Berlin'”, he judged.
What future for Gaza?
The Israeli Prime Minister also addressed the subject of recognition of the State of Palestine, believing that such action would “encourage” terrorist acts throughout the world. “Terrorists could strike the West from this state,” he continued. “You had attacks in Nice, Toulouse, the assassination of Samuel Paty. If you built a terrorist state next to your home, would you continue to have peace?” he asked.
For Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel “must do three things” in Gaza: the first is to “defeat the Hamas terrorists.” Second step: “ensure that there is effective demilitarization”. And finally, proceed to “deradicalization”. Once these three steps have been completed, “the Palestinians must have autonomy. They must have the power to govern themselves and not the power to threaten Israel,” he said.