From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Smotrich urges takeover of Rafah in face of intense international pressure to ‘surrender’
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"
Decrying what he describes as international pressure on Israel to “surrender,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls for the complete conquest of Rafah despite strong American opposition.
“On the eve of our 76th Independence Day, we are reminded that our War of Independence is not yet over,” he says in a statement responding to US President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold arms in the event of a full-on incursion into Hamas’s last remaining major stronghold in the Gaza Strip.
“We had to make the very declaration of the establishment of the state despite the determined opposition of [George] Marshall, the secretary of state of the Truman administration, and despite the arms embargo imposed by the US on the newly formed state, and we must continue this war until victory, despite — and to a certain extent precisely because of — the opposition of the Biden administration and the stopping of arms shipments. We simply have no other choice that does not endanger our existence and security.”
It is now critical to “continue the war in Gaza until the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages. This involves fully conquering Rafah here and now,” Smotrich continues, adding that it is necessary “to maintain our unity at all costs.”
“Only together can we stand against our enemies and against the great international pressures that are being exerted on us to surrender,” the far-right minister states.
