From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 21, 2025
Sparring with pro-hostage deal hecklers, Netanyahu says they want to ‘give up’ in fight against Hamas
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Speaking at a memorial ceremony for Etzel fighters who fell in the 1948 Battle of Jaffa, a smiling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu draws parallels between the Jewish underground forces and the current fight against Hamas and other Iranian proxies.
“None of them said, ‘Let’s give up,’ like they’re saying,” says Netanyahu, pointing to nearby protesters. “They said, ‘Let’s fight. Let’s win. Let’s defeat the enemy.”
“Just as the liberation of Jaffa ended in total victory,” says Netanyahu, “we today are also committed to total victory.”
He says Israel didn’t go into Gaza on the ground before October 7, 2023, because there wasn’t domestic or international legitimacy for such an operation.
“We haven’t given up on dealing with the Iranian threat,” Netanyahu adds. “Don’t believe what you’re hearing.”
The prime minister also offers a message of unity, amid ongoing protests against his handling of the war and the hostage talks: “Only when we fight together as true brothers do we win together.”
“There will not be a war between brothers, there will not be a civil war, not here in Israel.”
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