Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he’s ready to “give peace an opportunity” — however “the best way you purchase peace is thru drive,” he informed “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil on Tuesday in Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu spoke to CBS Information days after Hamas launched the final 20 residing hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s navy withdrew from elements of the Gaza Strip, within the first section of a peace plan brokered by President Trump and Arab states. He weighed in on the way forward for Gaza, how Israel will react if Hamas doesn’t disarm, and the criticism Israel confronted through the warfare.
Listed below are the highlights:
May Netanyahu remorse releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in change for Israeli hostages?
Netanyahu took a broader view when Dokoupil, in reference to the discharge of practically 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners in change for residing and deceased Israeli hostages, requested him: “Will you remorse this resolution?”
He responded that Israel is now in a “a lot better place” to pursue Hamas if it fails to adjust to the peace plan as a result of there are not 20 Israeli hostages “with their heads on the chopping block.”
Dokoupil famous that Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7, 2023, terrorist assault, was freed in an change with Israel in 2011.
Netanyahu acknowledged that the choice to launch 1000’s of individuals – together with 250 who have been serving life sentences in Israeli prisons – it was “very painful”.
“It’s true that we don’t launch the worst amongst them, however that could be a small consolation in case your son or daughter was murdered by one among these individuals who have been launched,” he mentioned.
The discharge of Palestinian prisoners got here with the understanding that “there’s a large value to pay for the dedication that Israel has to deliver again our hostages or captives held by the enemy,” Netanyahu mentioned.
Netanyahu says the ratio of civilians to combatants killed in Gaza is “lower than 2 to 1”
Requested by Dokoupil about criticism that he has been “neglectful of civilian life in Gaza” and whether or not his depend of civilian deaths differed from that of the Hamas-run Gaza Well being Ministry, Netanyahu estimated that “20,000 Hamas terrorists” had been killed by Israel.
He added that this was the quantity “for those who take out individuals who die from illness or outdated age.”
Netanyahu argued: “Aside from double counting and so forth, the ratio is lower than 2 to 1, which is unbelievable in city conflicts.” It is a quantity he additionally cited on the United Nations Normal Meeting in September, telling world leaders: “The ratio of non-combatant to combatant casualties is lower than 2 to 1 in Gaza.”
The Gaza Ministry of Well being claims that just about 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023. Its numbers don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. There are additionally round 11,000 Gazans nonetheless lacking, in response to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, who’re presumed to be buried below the rubble.
Mr Trump told reporters on Sunday that he believes round 60,000 individuals died in Gaza.
Netanyahu says ending the warfare “as rapidly as doable” is the “first answer” to fight younger Individuals’ damaging views of Israel
Netanyahu cited the size of the warfare as one of many causes Individuals have an more and more damaging view of Israel. ONE Bank poll in late September discovered that solely 35% of respondents had a optimistic opinion of Israel’s authorities, down from 47% in 2022, earlier than the warfare started. Amongst Individuals below 30, simply 13% mentioned the US was offering “the correct quantity of support to Israel.”
“The primary answer is to finish the warfare as rapidly as doable, one thing I’ve tried to do towards all this opposing propaganda,” he mentioned.
Netanyahu additionally blamed social media for fueling outrage towards Israel, saying the “lies” concerning the nation “clearly trigger hurt.”
“Within the age of TikTok and the age of tv… letting wars final too lengthy will value precisely what it does.” However he added: “Which will get better, not less than partially, when the warfare ends and we transfer into what I hope would be the period of peace.”
Netanyahu on Trump saying he’s tough to work with: “I’m very powerful”
In remarks on the Knesset on Monday, Trump mentioned Netanyahu is “not the simplest man to cope with, however that’s what makes him nice.”
Netanyahu appeared happy with the characterization.
“I hope he says that, as a result of I’m very powerful on points that concern the way forward for my nation,” he informed Dokoupil. “My job is to guard the Jewish state and safe the way forward for the Jewish individuals.”
Netanyahu says Hamas should disarm or “all hell breaks unfastened”
“We agreed to present peace an opportunity,” Netanyahu mentioned. However he additionally maintained that the situations of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza are “very clear:” Hamas should give up its weapons and demilitarize, or “all hell will break unfastened.”
Trump warned that if Hamas doesn’t disarm, “we are going to disarm them.”
“And it’ll occur rapidly and maybe violently,” mentioned the president. “However they are going to disarm.”
Netanyahu informed Dokoupil: “I hope we are able to do that peacefully. We’re definitely able to do it.”
How will the Gaza Strip be ruled?
An essential unresolved concern is who will management the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces withdraw.
Mr. Trump peace plan requires the handover of management of the territory to a technocratic committee made up of Palestinians, supervised by a “Peace Council” that features Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Hamas shouldn’t play any function in governance. However past that, it is unclear.
Netanyahu mentioned the precise construction of how the territory might be administered has not but been outlined.
Requested by Dokoupil whether or not Blair would personally govern Gaza, Netanyahu replied: “I doubt it.”
“However I feel this can be a interval of transition and we need to create a authorities that works, that isn’t made up of individuals dedicated to our destruction,” he mentioned. “We don’t need the October seventh bloodbath to occur once more.”
Netanyahu has discarded the idea of permitting an unbiased Palestinian state, the answer that has been advocated by US allies in Europe and the Arab world.
He informed Dokoupil that he helps Palestinians having the facility to manipulate themselves, however wouldn’t assist a Palestinian state with “navy energy.” “This sovereign safety energy should stay with Israel,” the prime minister continued.
The Israeli chief mentioned the best way ahead ought to contain de-radicalization and adjustments to the Palestinian training system. He additionally famous that many Gazans oppose Hamas or maintain the group liable for inflicting “horrible distress” on them.
“A very powerful factor in destroying fanaticism is destroying a sure hope, the hope that fanaticism will obtain its outcomes,” Netanyahu mentioned. “When individuals know that Israel is right here to remain, the Jewish state just isn’t going to be destroyed, Israel is simply too robust, that units the stage for a change of perspective.”
