MK Nissim Vaturi (Likud) addressed the latest developments in the war in the Gaza Strip, ahead of the planned capture of Gaza City.
On the situation in the international arena Vaturi said, "I don't think the world has ever been with us. I hope we do not expect the world to be with us. After the October 7th massacre we understand that we must fight for Israel's security. Israel must end the war quickly. End it quickly, we also want to end it quickly. We will not abandon this mission even if it takes time."
Regarding the United States he noted, "One must understand one thing, the President of the United States said that Hamas must be annihilated. That sellers it- Hamas must be annihilated and we will do it quickly, even if all the media and the world are against us, it must be done, and Trump is with us. Israel and America struck together in Iran, that's something no one dreamed of. He will help us, Trump sees things differently, not like in Europe. When Trump says we need to finish this quickly he is part of the mission."
On the issue of the hostages he said, "Even before we returned one hostage they said we had given up on the hostages, and we never gave up on them. We returned over 205 according to my estimate. We always hope to return every hostage. The vast majority were alive. It is not such a simple task to return hostages who are in the hands of an enemy that wants only to murder Jews and is bloodthirsty. There were four hostages, including two bodies of fallen soldiers, no one volunteered to return them. The equation changed the moment the IDF began the ground offensive."
Later he recalled that he had expressed his opposition to the appointment of the Chief of Staff, "I think they appointed a Chief of Staff who was part of the misconception and should move forward. When the politivians tell you that you need to carry out a particular action, present operational plans or say 'I am not able to do this.' Either you are not able or the IDF is not able, and we know that the IDF is able."
According to him, "We do not want to appoint a Chief of Staff above the Chief of Staff. I indeed think the appointment by the Defense Minister was a mistake. I sat with him in deliberations. He was director-general of the Defense Ministry. True, he was an outstanding soldier. I sat with him in meetings on foreign and security matters on certain issues before October 7th. I warned, but I saw the indifference. From the start I told the Defense Minister, 'You erred in this appointment.'"