Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 31, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Netanyahu: Hamas would be the first to celebrate if we held elections now
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a press conference at his office in Jerusalem, March 31, 2024. (Screenshot, GPO)
Netanyahu turns to calls for a general election, saying it would paralyze the country — “in the midst of the war, the moment before victory” — for up to eight months.
“It would paralyze negotiations for freeing our hostages and would bring an end to the war before the goals are completely achieved,” he says. “And the first who would welcome this is Hamas, and that says everything.”
He finishes his prepared statement with a pledge to bring all hostages home, “men and women, civilians and soldiers, the living and the casualties.”
“I won’t leave anybody behind,” he vows.
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