Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Zikim military base today (Tuesday). During his visit, Netanyahu met with the IDF Artillery Corps’ elite Sky Riders Unit.
The Prime Minister was briefed by the commander of the unit on its unique abilities and its achievements during the fighting; he also viewed an exhibit of the unit's various tools and capabilities, including the operations system, communications and UAVs. Prime Minister Netanyahu operated a UAV and used it to monitor the skies over Gaza.
The Prime Minister spoke with the reservist and conscript soldiers and heard from them about their activity up until now, as well as their readiness to continue fighting.
Netanyahu told the soldiers, "There is considerable pressure on Israel at home and abroad to stop the war before we achieve all of its goals, including a deal at any price to free the hostages. We very much want to achieve another release and we are prepared to go far but we are not prepared to pay any price, certainly not the delusional prices that Hamas is demanding of us, the meaning of which is the defeat of the State of Israel."
"We are committed to continuing the war until we achieve all of its goals: Eliminating Hamas, releasing all of the hostages and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel. There is no pressure, none, that can change this."
The Prime Minister was accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Tzahi Braverman and his Military Secretary, Maj.-Gen. Avi Gil.