IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip. March 17, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
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Netanyahu said the international community was “trying to stop the war before all its goals are achieved.”
“We will operate in Rafah. It will take a few weeks, but it will happen,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the government meeting on Sunday.
“Some in the international community are trying to stop the war before all its goals are achieved. They do this by making false accusations against the IDF, against the Israeli government, and against the Prime Minister of Israel,” Netanyahu added.
“They do this by trying to bring about elections now, in the midst of the war. And they do this because they know that elections now will stop the war and paralyze the country for at least six months.”
“So let’s be clear,” the prime minister said, “if we stop the war now before all of its goals are achieved, it means that Israel has lost the war, and we will not allow that. That is why we must not give in to these pressures, and we will not give in to them.”
Netanyahu further noted, “And to our friends in the international community I say: Is your memory so short? So quickly did you forget October 7, the most terrible massacre committed against Jews since the Holocaust?
“So quickly are you ready to deny Israel’s the right to defend itself against Hamas? Did you lose your moral conscience so quickly?”
Lapid responds to Netanyahu
Responding to Netanyahu’s comments, opposition head Yair Lapid issued a statement later on Sunday: “Netanyahu, our memory is actually not flawed. We remember who built and funded Hamas, and we remember who was prime minister on October 7, we remember that with you we will lose the war and not return the hostages.
“We also remember that an election now is the only way to strengthen the IDF, draft the haredim, and rehabilitate our relationship with the Americans,” Lapid added.
