Netanyahu: US non-veto was ‘very, very bad,’ and ‘encouraged Hamas’; cancellation of aides’ US trip aimed to show Hamas pressure won’t work

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defends canceling a trip by his top aides to Washington in protest of the Biden administration’s decision to allow the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, after the White House suggested the premier was intentionally seeking a blowup with the US.

Hosting Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida at his Jerusalem office, Netanyahu says he thought the US decision not to veto the resolution was “very, very bad.”

“The bad thing about the US decision… was it encouraged Hamas to take a hard line and to believe that international pressure will prevent Israel from freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas,” he says.

He insists his move was “a message to Hamas: ‘Don’t bet on this pressure, it’s not going to work.’ I hope they got the message.”