Netanyahu hits back at Biden: ‘I’ve got my own red line’
David Isaac | JNS | 3-11-2024 | Condensed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responding to recent remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden, said on Sunday that he, too, has a red line:
“You know what the red line is? That October 7 doesn’t happen again.”
The prime minister referred to comments by Biden on March 10, in which he was asked by MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart: “Do you have a red line with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?”
Biden saying only, “You cannot have another 30,000 dead as a consequence [of pursuing Hamas],” citing a figure presented by Hamas for casualties in Gaza [falsely inflated from real estimates of 10K].
The president prefaced that remark by saying, “I’m never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical. So there’s no red line [where] I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them.”
Of Netanyahu, Biden said, “He is hurting Israel more than he is helping.”
The prime minister, when asked what he thought Biden meant, said, “I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that, that I’m pursuing private policies against the wishes of the majority of Israelis and that this is hurting the interests of Israel then he’s wrong on both counts.”
Netanyahu said that his policies are supported by the vast majority of the Israeli people, who recognize the need to destroy all of Hamas’s battalions in Gaza and that the Palestinian Authority should not be put in charge of Gaza on the day after, given its own support for terrorism.
“[Israelis] also support my position that says that we should resoundingly reject the attempt to ram down our throats a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said. “So the attempt to say that my policies or my private policies that are not supported by most Israelis is false, and the vast majority are united as never before. And they understand what’s good for Israel,” he added.
During Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday, Biden stated, “As we look to the future, the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution over time” despite recent polling of “Palestinians” showing only 17% support a two-state solution while 77.7% want to destroy Israel and replace it with a “Palestinian” state.
Watch Brigitte Gabriel Warn About Palestinian Hate of America and the West
Israelis have taken note of the sharpened rhetoric. According to a survey published on Sunday, three in four Jewish Israelis say that Biden’s initial support for the Jewish state after the Oct. 7 massacre has dwindled.
During a Fox News interview on Monday, Netanyahu was asked if a “fractured relationship” had developed between Israel and the U.S. and whether the U.S. was pressuring Israel to take its foot “off the gas” in its war against Hamas.
“Ultimately, it’s Israel that has to decide. Our neck is on the line,” Netanyahu responded. “I’m telling you that we’re not getting off the gas. I’m telling you that we have to take care of Israel’s security and our future. And that requires eliminating the terrorist army. That’s a prerequisite for victory.”
Pointing to a recent poll showing 82% of Americans support Israel’s war against Hamas, Netanyahu said Americans “recognize that our battle is your battle, and our victory is your victory. And I’m sure that deep down everyone in Washington understands that.”
The main theme of White House criticism is Israel’s obligation to supply aid to Palestinian noncombatants. Israel says it is allowing enough aid through, but that U.N. inefficiencies on the Gaza side of the border leave the aid undistributed. Secondly, when aid is distributed, it is often hijacked by Hamas, helping to prop up the terrorist group, which is seen by the population as still in control given it manages the food supply.
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