Part of Mark Regev's AFL talk
(Video: American Friends of Likud)
The majority of the Israeli public doesn’t agree with the hostages’ families saying a deal must be reached "at any cost," according to former International Spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office Mark Regev.
During a Zoom call on Monday night with American Friends of Likud (AFL) activists, Regev said: "The majority of the Israeli public doesn’t support this idea. The media shows everyone saying a deal should come 'at any cost,' but most Israelis don’t agree. We understand the families, they can say what they want. We understand them and their pain, but the Israeli public doesn't agree with the idea of a deal 'at any cost' in polls."
Regev returned to his position briefly after the October 7 Hamas attacks and participated in Israeli advocacy before retiring again in February.
Regev said that most Israelis would like to continue fighting Hamas. "They may want a deal like the one in November, but the idea that Hamas should win the war because of the hostages? No, the public is not there," he said.
In his 60-minute talk, Regev criticized the Israeli protesters in Israel, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
"The Americans are mistaken to think that Netanyahu doesn’t represent Israel’s views because of the polls,” he said. “He represents the prevailing opinion in Israel, including political center and left. Two-thirds of Israelis don’t want elections. Support for the war is overwhelming," he said.
"The prime minister said that we’re entering Rafah. It's just a matter of time,” he added. “He promised the Americans that we’ll have a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave the area so that they don’t get caught in the crossfire. We don’t want to see innocent civilians hurt."
Regev addressed graphic images coming out of the Gaza Strip following the IDF's operation. "I understand there’s a negative side to showing Israel bombing Gaza, but ultimately it's very important. People in the area need to understand that if they attack Israel, there will be a price to pay, it's an important message that Israel needs to convey,” he said.
Regarding the negotiations with Hamas, Regev said that the deal is frozen because of Hamas' demands, which would allow it to regain control of Gaza. "There’s a difference between a deal with tough concessions and a deal that allows Hamas to win the war, and that’s unacceptable,” he asserted.
“Hamas is saying if you want the prisoners back, you need to end the war. You need to leave Gaza, and we need to be allowed to return to the northern part of the Strip, and all these conditions essentially allow Hamas to regain control of Gaza and declare victory in the war, and we won’t allow that,” he added.
According to Regev, the increasing tension with the U.S. government is "a price worth paying to achieve total victory over Hamas. When the prime minister says ‘total victory,’ we have to win decisively and everything else is secondary.”
“And if it causes us to fight with some of our friends, well, for us, this is about our survival,” he continued. “And just as we pay a price in the human lives of our soldiers and an economic price, we have to be willing to pay that price too,” he added.
Regev further argued that the recent American abstention in the United Nations Security Council decision and Biden's support for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's speech calling for elections in Israel, constitute a "slap in the face" to Israel.
"America allows Israel to become a victim of automatic anti-Israel majority in the UN. It's unacceptable. If America throws Israel to the walls of the UN, it's problematic,” he added.
"What Chuck Schumer said is problematic and false," Regev also said. "This isn’t diplomacy. Israel is a democracy, and the American side does not respect the democratic process in Israel. The Biden administration’s support for Schumer started the downward spiral in relations; it's almost unprecedented.”
Regev also criticized UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "Instead of acknowledging there's a problem, he embraces the anti-Israel bias in his organization and calls on people to support UNRWA. They want to say UNRWA employees who celebrated the massacre of October 7 in schools are an exception, and UNRWA is a good organization,” he said.
Regev also commented on the attack in Damascus, in which senior Iranian Quds Force commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi was killed, saying, "I can’t confirm it was Israel, of course, but I can say that we closely monitor Iran's nuclear program, and it’s reasonable to think Israel will attack Iran.”
Regarding the possibility of Netanyahu addressing the U.S. Congress, Regev said, "we should decide about a right time for that. It's clearly not easy for a prime minister to leave the country during a war. Netanyahu will want to deliver a good speech and build the best 'case' he can.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum responded to Regev's words, saying, "84% of the Israeli public agree it's impossible to win the war without bringing the captives back home. The hostages’ families contacted Mark Regev following his statements, and he claimed the headlines don’t reflect the truth in the article.”