‘Enough is enough!’: Attacks on Israel ‘unconscionable,’ US ambassadors tell PM
After meeting Netanyahu, top US diplomats to Europe and anti-Semitism czar condemn rocket fire on Israeli civilians as ‘terrorism pure and simple’; PM accuses Hamas of war crimes
Raphael Ahren is a former diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel.
In a break from security consultations about the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening hosted in Jerusalem a delegation of senior US diplomats, who expressed their unequivocal support for Israel’s right to defend itself against the attacks carried out over the last two days by Palestinian terror groups.
Netanyahu updated the delegation on the current situation, saying that Israel had the “right to defend itself” and would “take all necessary measures to ensure this,” according to a readout provided by his office.
Hamas was committing “a double war crime by firing indiscriminately on civilians from among concentrations of civilians,” Netanyahu told the visiting US dignitaries.
Since Saturday, Palestinian terrorist groups have fired more than 600 rockets at Israel, killing four civilians and injuring dozens more. In response, the Israel Defense Forces destroyed some 320 terror-related targets in Gaza.
After the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office, the seven-member delegation issued a joint statement entitled, “Enough is enough!”
“Over the past 36 hours Israel has suffered from a barrage of over 600 rockets and mortars fired indiscriminately by terrorists in Gaza. This barrage has come from civilian areas in Gaza and is aimed at civilian centers in Israel, demonstrating once again a cynical readiness to risk the lives and futures of the people of Gaza as well as those of the Israeli people,” the statement read.
“The sole aim of these terrorists is to kill, maim and terrorize citizens of Israel. These actions by Hamas and Islamic Jihad are simply unconscionable. No other nation on Earth would tolerate this.”
Headed by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, the delegation consisted of America’s envoys to the European Union, France, Germany, Portugal and Switzerland, as well as Special Envoy for Combating Anti-Semitism, Elan Carr.
Honored to host a visiting delegation of US ambassadors and US Special Envoy for Combatting Anti-Semitism Elan Carr. Please see our joint statement below in support of Israel as the country faces yet another barrage of missile attacks on its citizens. Enough is enough! pic.twitter.com/NYT1Q7wLfW
— David M. Friedman (@USAmbIsrael) May 5, 2019
“Can one imagine rockets falling on Washington, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Bern or Lisbon today without an appropriately strong reaction?” their joint statement read. “We affirm Israel’s right to defend itself and urge all nations to call these actions out for what they are — terrorism pure and simple.”
Earlier on Sunday, the delegation met with Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who discussed with them the ongoing violence emanating from Gaza.
“The current situation in Gaza is proof of the failure of the approach calling for Israeli withdrawals. If we relinquish full control of Judea and Samaria, Judea and Samaria will become Gaza and rockets will then be launched at the State of Israel,” Erdan told the US envoys, according to his office.
