Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Shari Markson of Sky News Australia on the current situation in Gaza and the risks of giving into Hamas’ demands.
The Prime Minister warned that recent moves by Western governments to advance recognition of a Palestinian state amount to appeasement, drawing a direct comparison to the concessions made to Nazi Germany prior to World War II.
“This is appeasement, pure and simple,” the Prime Minister said, recalling how Czechoslovakia, a small democracy, was pressured by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to surrender the Sudetenland to Hitler in 1938. “They gave him that territory under the false promise of peace. What did he do? He immediately launched World War II, the worst war in history of humanity, that claimed the lives of millions and millions of innocent people. We will not repeat that mistake.”
The Prime Minister stressed that Israel, a small democracy and the only democracy in the Middle East, faces constant assault from Iran and its terrorist proxies, while Western leaders are “condemning Israel and putting it at tremendous risk by demanding that we hand over strategic land next to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to those who openly seek our destruction.”
Quoting Churchill, he warned against “feeding the crocodile” of militant Islam. “These leaders think appeasement will pacify it, but it won’t. The more fuel you pour into this antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-Western fire, the greater it will grow until it consumes you in the end. It will continue to grow, unless you stand up to it.”
He accused the Albanese government in Australia and sections of the media of aiding a propaganda campaign against Israel. “They repeat the lies that Israel is starving children or committing genocide. These are the same libels leveled against Jews in the Middle Ages, that jews were killing children to use their blood, accusations that led to massacres and ultimately the Holocaust.”
According to the Prime Minister, the facts tell a different story: “Since the war began, Israel has brought two million tons of food into Gaza, one ton of food for every man, woman, and child. Hamas has stolen much of it, selling the remainder at exorbitant prices to the Palestinian citizens that they claim to represent. That’s what’s causing the shortage. At the same time, Israel has gone to unprecedented lengths to warn civilians with millions of calls and text messages, telling them to get out of harm’s way, while Hamas continues to prevent them from leaving combat zones.”
He noted that no other army in history has taken such precautions. “The Allies in WWII did not send warnings before entering cities. Nor did the US in Fallujah, Iraq, or Afghanistan. Israel is doing what no military has ever done, yet we are vilified in the same way Jews were demonized in the Middle Ages. Those media outlets who continue to portray such a story, should be ashamed of themselves.”
The Prime Minister made clear that Israel will not bow to such pressure. “In the past, Jews were defenseless against these lies. Not today. They may get away with pushing these lies against us, but we will not succumb on the battlefield. We roll back against those who try to exterminate us, those who rape our women, beat our men and burn our babies, and we'll secure the peace. And when we win the peace, we'll win both wars, both the propaganda war and the war on the ground. We will defeat those who seek our extermination, win both the war on the battlefield and the propaganda war, and secure peace for ourselves and for the people of Gaza.”
He also credited US President Donald Trump for his consistent support of Israel and rejection of international pressure. “President Trump said it clearly: what these countries declare is irrelevant. Israel will not commit suicide by placing another Palestinian state on its doorstep.”
“In the in the practical sense, he's right because we're not going to commit suicide and put another Palestinian state right on our doorstep in Tel Aviv or in Jerusalem, because the distances are tiny. You know, Israel is like a fraction of 1% of Australia, just to give your viewers an understanding. It's a tiny country and they want us to put another Palestinian state in the middle of this tiny country, another because we just had one, de facto Palestinian state in Gaza.”
So, recognizing a Palestinian state now, he warned, would amount to “rewarding terror.” He pointed to the Gaza disengagement as a clear precedent: “We gave them Gaza. And what did the Palestinians do with it? Did they take care of their own people? Did they build up Gaza? No, they built it down into terror tunnels for their terrorist monsters and they openly declare, their goal is if you give them another opportunity, another state, they’ll do it again. They'll kidnap people, they'll rape the women, they'll take the hostages, and they'll go to the extermination of Israel. That's their goal."
Instead of building a future, they built terror tunnels. Their goal remains the extermination of Israel. Any leader who supports recognition of a Palestinian state is encouraging more radicalism, not only against Israel, but in their own countries. If they don’t take a stand, the crocodile will come for them too.”
Looking ahead, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his vision for peace through strength. “Israel is strong. Together with President Trump, we signed the Abraham Accords, four peace treaties not seen for a quarter of a century. After victory against Iran and its proxies, I believe we will have tremendous opportunities to expand peace in the region, including with Saudi Arabia.”