From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 18, 2024
PM tells US Jewish leaders Israel will ‘finish the job’ in Gaza, pledges to protect civilians, praises Biden for aid
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Speaking at the Conference of Presidents’ annual mission in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges “total victory against these savages,” referring to Hamas.
“When we set out to do this, even our best friends said to us it can’t be done,” he says, speaking after US Ambassador Jack Lew. “Our brave soldiers are in the tunnels demolishing the infrastructure of these killers,” he says, lauding the standards of the IDF and the lengths they take to protect civilians.
“The Israeli army is going through lengths that no other army has gone through in protecting civilians,” says Netanyahu, decrying the “lies” told about the war.
Netanyahu says, “We cannot leave a quarter of Hamas’s fighting battalions intact.”
“We will finish the job here with our brave soldiers,” Netanyahu tells the US Jewish leaders. “We will make sure the civilian population” has a way to get to safe zones.
Turning to a discussion of antisemitism, Netanyahu blasts South Africa for taking Israel to The Hague, and lambasts Brazil’s President Lula da Silva for comparing Israel to the Nazis. “He should be ashamed of himself,” he says to applause.
Netanyahu praises the US government and public for rejecting such allegations.
“None of this will stop us,” promises Netanyahu. “Total victory means the release of the hostages.”
The prime minister calls for pressure on Qatar to in turn press Hamas: “Deal or no deal, we have to finish the job to achieve total victory,” Netanyahu says.
He praises the assistance from US President Joe Biden, saying he agrees that everything must be done to get civilians out of harm’s way.
“One thing Israel cannot agree to is an international dikdat that would… force a Palestinian state on Israel after the horror of October 7,” he says, insisting the Israeli people is united around this. He calls on the Conference of Presidents to adopt the same resolution his cabinet passed against a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
