Netanyahu interview on British TalkTV
(מתוך TalkTV)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he alone thought Hamas must be destroyed and not empowered but was prevented by others.
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Netanyahu remains the last in Israel's political and security leadership, not to assume responsibility for Israel's failings leading up to the October 7 Hamas massacre.
In an interview on British Talk TV, Netanyahu said he was not a believer in the conception that Hamas was interested in war with Israel.
"I believed that we can't cut deals with Hamas," Netanyahu told journalist Douglas Murray in an interview broadcast on Sunday. "The question was what do you do about it and my conclusion was that we have to continuously cut these wild weeds." He then explained the estimated cost to life on both sides, of such action. "We couldn't get the domestic consensus to make such a definitive solution," he said adding that there was also no likely international support for such a move.
He also repeated claims that he opposed the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza claiming he had warned that Hamas would take over and Israel would come under attack and also claiming he left the government over that issue, neglecting to mention that he in fact had repeatedly voted in favor of the pullback.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
(Photo: Noam Rivkin Pantom)
On the matter of taking responsibility for the attack occurring on his watch, Netanyahu said that clearly there was a responsibility on the government to protect its people and it had failed. He said after the war there would be investigations and systemic examinations but did not say there would be a commission of inquiry into the failings.
During the interview Netanyahu said Qatar can bring about the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza because they are funders of the terror group and have leverage over them. He said he expected the Gulf nation to use that leverage.