PM amid friction with Biden: ‘You can’t say you support Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas, then oppose Israel when it takes the actions necessary’

Amid growing tensions with the White House, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells AIPAC delegates gathered in Washington that he “deeply appreciate[s] the support we have received from President Biden and the administration, and I hope it will continue.”

“But let me be clear,” Netanyahu continues, “Israel will win this war, no matter what.”

Netanyahu says in order to do so, the IDF has to operate in Rafah, otherwise Hamas will “regroup, rearm, and reconquer Gaza.”

“That is an intolerable threat to our future, and we will not accept it. We will destroy Hamas, free our hostages, and ensure that Gaza doesn’t pose a threat to Israel again,” he says.

Netanyahu promises that Israel “will finish the job in Rafah, while enabling the civilian population to get out of harm’s way.”

He says Israel has “taken measures to minimize civilian casualties that no other army has taken in history.”

He offers a broadside against Israel’s allies, saying, “To our friends in the international community, I say this: You cannot say you support Israel’s right to defend itself, and then oppose Israel when it exercises that right.”

“You cannot say you support Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas, and then oppose Israel when it takes the actions necessary to achieve that goal,” he goes on.

“You cannot say that you oppose Hamas’s strategy of using civilians as human shields, and then blame Israel for the civilian casualties that result from this Hamas cynical strategy,” Netanyahu insists. “For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. For Hamas, every civilian death is a strategy.”

Therefore, he says, “it is wrong and immoral to hold Israel to a standard for avoiding civilian casualties that no other country on earth is held to.”

“None of these pressures will stop us,” he pledges. “Israel’s very future, its very survival is at stake. We have no other option but total victory, and that victory is in and within reach.”

In an oblique message to Biden, Netanyahu says that “the overwhelming majority of the American people stand with us. I know that the overwhelming majority of Congress stands with us.”

The over 1,600 AIPAC activists estimated in attendance are also hearing from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Charles Chuck Schumer and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell during the conference, which began Sunday.