Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday responded to a no-confidence motion in the Knesset and sharply criticized the opposition for its doubts regarding the Gaza plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.
"You've always talked about one thing: what about the day after? Well, you've got the day after. But it's not what you're advocating for - the failed Oslo narrative - and you refuse to learn the lesson. President Trump presented a new and revolutionary vision for the day after Hamas so that Gaza does not rise again as a terror state - and I add not only in Gaza - it must not rise anywhere within our borders," Netanyahu emphasized.
He added, "You in the opposition said there's no choice - we must bring back the Palestinian Authority to Gaza. You wanted to return the PA that educates its children to hatred, pays killers. I am returning from the US with a different vision - without Hamas and without the Palestinian Authority in Gaza. President Trump's vision is new and revolutionary. He is determined to implement it."
Netanyahu also revealed that at the beginning of the war, pessimism was expressed within the defense establishment about the possibility of retrieving hostages from Gaza.
"Regarding the hostages, from the very beginning of the war, I and my colleagues in the Cabinet heard from senior figures in the defense establishment that we might not be able to bring back the hostages. I had a different view. I fought for this, and I am still fighting for it to this day.”
“I thought and believed that the combination of the bravery of our fighters on the battlefield and our methodical and determined conduct in the diplomatic arena would lead to the release of the vast majority of our hostages, and indeed it did. I am determined to bring everyone back - the living and the dead. Of course, the terrible lie that I stopped the release is being echoed. All senior officials from the previous US administration, who are not suspected of having excessive sympathy for me or my government, explicitly stated that Hamas was the only obstacle to a deal for the release of the hostages. For half a year, they refused to enter negotiations," he added.
Netanyahu explained that "until we entered Rafah and they understood that help was not coming from anywhere - they refused to negotiate. They cracked due to our determination. They surrendered to the deal I proposed. Some among us wanted us to accept their dictates and release 12 or 14 hostages. I demanded that we maximize the number of those released, and I insisted on it and will continue to insist. Everything else is a lie."