Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a rare midweek press conference on Thursday to emphasize that Israel would continue to fight in Gaza, and defend its interests in spite of international pressure to end the war.
Netanyahu spoke in the wake of a stampede in northern Gaza in which dozens of Palestinians were killed as they mobbed humanitarian aid trucks before dawn Wednesday morning. During the chaos, which reportedly occurred in several waves, Israeli soldiers were charged by civilians and opened fire when the crowd ignored warning shots. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its soldiers were responsible for no more than ten of the deaths in the incident.
The incident illustrated the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which persists because Hamas, the terror organization that launched the war October 7, has refused to accept a temporary ceasefire unless Israel ends the war and leaves.
Netanyahu also condemned a terror attack earlier Thursday in the settlement of Eli, in the Shomron (the northern West Bank), in which two Israelis were murdered at a gas station by a terrorist who turned out to be a member of the Palestinian Authority security services.
Netanyahu praised the unity of the Israeli people in the face of threats. “When we stand together, we are very strong,” he said. He said that the nation’s unity had to be maintained “to achieve final victory.”
Netanyahu recounted the history of Israeli prime ministers before him, each of whom, he said, had faced international pressure every time they were called upon to defend Israel from attack. He noted, however, that ordinary people around the world backed Israel, even if politicians and activists did not. He cited a recent Harvard-Harris poll in the U.S. that showed Americans supported Israel overwhelmingly, and did not support Hamas (rather, they backed its removal).
He also addressed the thorny issue of the military draft. Earlier in the week, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant had said the country would need to draft ultra-Orthodox men who currently enjoy exemption from military service if they are engaged in religious study. Netanyahu said that it was becoming clear that all had to serve in some capacity: “Today, even the Haredi [ultra-Orthodox] public recognizes it.” He acknowledged, however, that compromise would be needed.
“It is impossible to achieve complete agreement [on the draft],” he said. “You know where they have complete agreement? North Korea.” He urged flexibility — and unity in the face of the challenges Israel faces, inside and out.
Netanyahu rejected the idea of calling early elections for the Knesset (the country voted in municipal elections earlier this week). He said that elections in the middle of the war would be divisive. (The current Knesset expires in 2026.)
Asked about negotiations to free the 134 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, Netanyahu said that Hamas was not yet in the “region of an agreement,” though he reiterated that Israel was doing everything it could to secure their return.
In response to a question about the tens of thousands of Israeli civilians who remained evacuated from their homes on the northern border which is being shelled daily from Lebanon by Hezbollah, Netanyahu noted that residents of the southern cities near Gaza had begun returning to their homes, and said that he hoped a solution would soon be found in the north.
Israel has said that if diplomatic efforts fail to budge Hezbollah, it is prepared to go to war in Lebanon.
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.
