From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Report: Netanyahu said he knows how to negotiate with Hamas since he negotiated with labor union
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly told officials that he “well knows how to conduct negotiations” with Hamas, arguing that he has “conducted negotiations with the Histadrut” labor federation, Channel 13 news reports.
In response, Histadrut spokesman Yaniv Levy tells the network that “the parallel between the negotiations [Netanyahu is] holding with the terrorist organization Hamas and [those he held with] the Histadrut is nothing less than a shame bordering on incitement.”
“Apologize now to the million workers who drive the economy, many of whom are reservists,” he adds.
In response, Netanyahu’s Likud party releases a statement condemning what it calls “another low attempt by Channel 13 to generate gratuitous hatred among us by taking things out of context” for the sake of ratings.
“The prime minister did not compare the Histadrut to the murderous terrorist organization Hamas. There is nothing in the world that can compare to the new Nazis of Hamas,” Likud continues.
“The prime minister gave an example during a closed discussion regarding the processes of various negotiations that he conducted in the past, including negotiations between friends” and he “clearly emphasized that [the Histadrut] cannot be compared to negotiations with the murderous organization Hamas.”
