Won’t discuss unilateral strike on Iran
Netanyahu says that he won’t comment on the possibility of a strike by Israel on Iran’s alleged nuclear facilities. Blitzer:
Now that the U.S., the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Germany, they have agreed to a four-month extension, allowing these talks with Iran and its nuclear program to continue, does that mean a unilateral Israeli military strike potentially is off the table over the next four months?
Netanyahu:
Now, you know I never talk about – about what Israel will do or not do.
Netanyahu: They call for destruction of Israel
Netanyahu tells Blitzer that Hamas and Islamic Jihad call for the destruction of Israel and for the killing of Jews, rather than for legitimate political aims:
I think it – I think the international community has to – once this is put in place, we really have to undertake a program to demilitarize Gaza and to change the situation, because it’s unacceptable. What makes it unacceptable is Hamas and Islamic Jihad. These people are the worst terrorists, genocidal terrorists. They call for the destruction of Israel, and they call for the killing of every Jew wherever they can find them.
700 tons of concrete in each tunnel
Netanyahu tells Blitzer that Hamas has used tens of thousands of tons of concrete, which could have gone towards building other facilities for the community such as schools, into tunnels to attack Israel instead.
You know what they did with that, Wolf? They put 700 tons of concrete into each one of these terror attack tunnels to penetrate Israel. Now, we have discovered dozens of them. So you’re talking about tens of thousands of tons of concrete, instead of going for the benefit of the school, the population, is going for terrorism against Israel.
Netanyahu: Hamas leaders divided into two
Netanyahu tells Blitzer that there are two different groups of Hamas leaders, neither of whom are particularly concerned about the fate of Palestinian civilians. The military wing:
I mean, the Hamas leaders are divided into two. Those who are under – in underground bunkers in Gaza, they don’t care. Let the people there, you know, with the rocketeers and with the attack tunnels, let them die as Israel tries to surgically take them out. But they’re safe underground, the military leaders.
He says Khaled Meshaal, the leader of the political wing, understands even less what the conflict is like for people with no option of leaving Gaza:
And then they have got the political leader, this guy Khaled Meshaal, who is roaming around five-star hotel suites in the Gulf states, having the time of his life, while his people, while he’s deliberately putting his people as fodder for this horrible terrorist war that they’re conducting against us. So this has to stop. And I think many people in Gaza understand that Hamas is destroying Gaza, destroying their lives.
Netanyahu: ‘Brutal, cynical, heartless enemy’
Netanyahu tells Blitzer that Israel seeks to protect its citizens using its weapons, while Hamas has no interest in protecting civilians and uses its weapons to draw fire onto the Gaza Strip:
We develop anti-missile systems to protect. We use an anti-missile system to protect our civilians. They use their civilians to protect their missiles. That’s the difference. So, against such a cynical, brutal, heartless enemy, we try to minimize civilian casualties.
Netanyahu: ‘We don’t obliterate them’
Netanyahu says that Israel doesn’t ‘obliterate’ Palestinian civilians and has no battle with anyone other than Hamas, but that the brutality results from Hamas’ tendency to place rocket launchers near civilian targets – a tactic which he says is intentional.
People would say in the United States, as they’re telling me, obliterate the people. We don’t obliterate them. We don’t want to – we don’t have any battle with the Palestinians in Gaza.
He adds that having the right to self-defense also means being able to use it:
I appreciate the support we have received from President Obama and many world leaders for Israel’s right to self-defense. But others are saying, yes, you have the right of self-defense, as long as you don’t exercise it. What can a country do? What would you do? What would the people of the United States do if – if your cities were rocketed now, 2,000 rockets falling in American cities?
Reoccupation is ‘excessive military plan’
Netanyahu tells Blitzer that reoccupation of the Gaza Strip would be an ‘excessive military plan’ and that nobody in Israel’s government wants to go to that extent, but doesn’t appear to completely rule out the possibility of retaking the territory:
I support taking whatever action is necessary to stop this insane situation…Just imagine – I mean, imagine what Israel is going through. Imagine that 75 percent of the U.S. population is under rocket fire and they have to be in bomb shelters within 60 to 90 seconds. So, I’m not just talking about New York – New York, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Miami, you name it. That’s impossible. You can’t live like that. So I think we have to bring back, restore back a reasonable, sustained quiet and security. And we will take whatever action is necessary to achieve that.
When Blitzer asks if that includes possibly reoccupying Gaza:
Nobody wants to go to excessive military plans, but what is happening here is excessive.
Netanyahu: Hamas baits Israel into killing civilians
Netanyahu tells Blitzer that Hamas baits Israel into killing civilians in order to create ‘telegenically dead’ victims that they can use to influence public opinion in the 2014 Gaza conflict:
What choice do we have? We have to protect ourselves. So we try to target the rocketeers. We do. And all civilian casualties are unintended by us, but intended by Hamas. They want to pile up as many civilian dead as they can, because somebody said they use – it’s gruesome. They use telegenically dead Palestinians for their cause. They want the more dead the better.
Sign Wye Agreement
Netanyahu and Arafat sign the Wye River Agreement. The agreement is a land-for-peace deal which is signed after a 21-hour discussion between the two parties mediated by US president Bill Clinton. Jordan’s King Hussein, is also in attendance, assisting in the negotiations. Netanyahu:
The agreement benefits both sides and leaves me brimming with some confidence that Israel and the Palestinians could reach a final accord, though I guarantee you it will not be easy.
Yonatan Netanyahu dies age 30
Yonatan (Yoni) Netanyahu leads a mission to free 105 Jewish hostages being held by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in Entebbe Uganda and is killed in the raid. His body is brought back to Israel for burial at Mt. Herzl. He is survived by his parents, an ex-wife and two younger brothers. Benjamin Netanyahu:
There is no moment that can compare to the intensity of shock and suffering, and we know that the wound never fully heals.
Benjamin Netanyahu born in Tel Aviv, Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu is born in Tel Aviv, Israel, growing up in Jerusalem then Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Jewish historian Benzion Netanyahu, works as a professor. His mother is a stay-at-home mother. He goes to Cheltenham High School in Cheltenham, Philadelphia.
You taught me, Father, how to correctly view reality, how to understand what it contains within it and draw the necessary conclusions. It certainly wasn’t an easy thing for you, because there were always those who did not see as you did, ridiculed, laughed at or belittled your conclusions. But I believe that in this, as well, you taught me to distinguish between the important and the unimportant, and concentrate on the important.