In a front-page interview in this week's Time Magazine, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed remorse for the October 7th massacre, his first time doing so.
“Of course, of course. I am sorry, deeply, that something like this happened. And you always look back and you say, 'Could we have done things that would have prevented it?'” he said when pressed by the interviewer, Eric Cortellessa.
During the interview, Netanyahu rejected claims that he was dragging out the war, calling them “canard.” He emphasized that the victory in the war must be so decisive that when it ends, Hamas cannot claim control of Palestinian territories or pose a threat to Israel.
Regarding the threat to Israel's image, especially if the war turns into a wider regional conflict, Netanyahu says he's aware of the risk, but “being destroyed has bigger implications about Israel’s security,” he says. “I’d rather have bad press than a good obituary.”
The Prime Minister also discussed his approval of money transfers by Qatar to Hamas, claiming he saw them as humanitarian “We wanted to make sure that Gaza has a functioning civilian administration to avoid humanitarian collapse.”
According to him, Hamas’ threat to Israel wasn't based on the funds from Qatar, but rather, “the main issue was the transfer of weapons and ammunition from the Sinai into Gaza." He said his biggest mistake was not overriding his Security Cabinet’s reluctance to wage full-on war. “Oct. 7 showed that those who said that Hamas was deterred were wrong. If anything, I didn’t challenge enough the assumption that was common to all the security agencies.”