Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his government on Sunday that international leaders who are pushing for elections in the midst of the war are trying to “paralyze the country,” forcing Israel to stop fighting and lose the war.
Netanyahu did not name President Joe Biden explicitly, but spoke in the wake of Biden’s endorsement Friday of an alarming speech Thursday by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) demanding new elections in Israel to oust Netanyahu.
Netanyahu’s full remarks, as translated and provided by Israel’s Government Press office, follow (emphasis added):
Since the start of the war, we have been fighting on two fronts – military and diplomatic.
On the diplomatic front, until now we have succeeded in allowing our forces to fight in an unprecedented manner for five full months. However, it is no secret that the international pressure is increasing.
In the international community, there are those who are trying to stop the war now, before all of its goals have been achieved. They are doing so by hurling false accusations at the IDF, the Government of Israel and the Prime Minister of Israel.
They are doing so by means of an effort to bring about elections now, at the height of the war. They are doing this because they know that elections now will halt the war and paralyze the country for at least six months.
Then let it be clear: If we stop the war now, before all of its goals are achieved, this means that Israel will have lost the war, and this we will not allow. Therefore, we cannot, and will not, succumb to this pressure.
On the contrary, this simple truth only strengthens our determination to continue rejecting the pressure, and fighting to the end – to total victory. No international pressure will stop us from realizing all of the goals of the war: Eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel.
In order to do this, we will operate in Rafah. This is the only way to eliminate Hamas’s murderous brigades, and this is the only way to use the military pressure necessary to free all of our hostages.
To this end, we have approved the operational plans for action in Rafah, including advancing the steps to evacuate the civilian population from the combat zones. This is an essential stage ahead of the military action.
Those who say that the action in Rafah will not occur are those who also said that we would not enter Gaza, or act in Shifa or in Khan Yunis, and that we would not resume the fighting after the lull.
Therefore, I reiterate: We will operate in Rafah. This will take several weeks, and it will happen.
To our friends in the international community, I say: Are your memories that short? Have you so quickly forgotten October 7, the most horrific massacre of Jews since the Holocaust? Are you so quick to deny Israel the right to defend itself against the Hamas monsters? Have you so quickly lost your moral consciences?
Instead of pressuring Israel, which is fighting a war, the justice of which is unparalleled, against an enemy of unparalleled brutality, apply your pressure to Hamas and its patron – Iran. It is they who constitute a danger to the region and to the entire world.
In any case, we will withstand any pressure and with G-d’s help, we will continue to fight together until total victory.
Saturday evening saw some of the largest protests against the government since the start of the war, with thousands marching in Tel Aviv for new elections, joined by those who had been marching for a deal to release the Israeli hostages.
Netanyahu also spoke as Israeli negotiators, led by Mossad chief David Barnea, returned to Doha, Qatar, to discuss a proposal by Hamas to release female, elderly, and sick hostages in return for a pause in the war and the release of many convicted Palestinian terrorists who had murdered Israelis, plus an end to the war in a second stage of hostage releases.
Israel had rejected Hamas’s offer, with Netanyahu calling it “unrealistic,” but said it would continue negotiating. The White House was more receptive, with national security spokesman John Kirby telling reporters on Friday that the Hamas offer was within the “bounds” of a U.S. proposal, evidently accepting an end to the war before Hamas’s defeat.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
