He doesn’t answer directly regarding Hochstein. But he says there is a series of imperatives Israel is dealing with.
First, there needs to be "crushing victory" over Hamas
...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
, with Hezbollah deterred in the north, he says. Once Hamas is destroyed, Israel will focus on the north, where almost 100,000 Israelis are currently displaced from their homes.
Either there will be a diplomatic situation on the northern border, "or there will be a different way" to solve the situation, he says.
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz, alongside Netanyahu, is asked whether he is prepared to state categorically that he opposes Paleostinian statehood. Gantz says that first the war must be won, "and dealing with anything else is politics, and I don’t intend to get into that."
Netanyahu is asked whether he passed up an opportunity to send the head of the Mossad to talks in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
on a new hostage deal a few days ago. He says he won’t make the mistake of telling Israel’s enemies about its considerations. He says Israel is also "negotiating" with the enemy via "blood, fire and pillars of smoke."
He says the combination of military force and diplomatic efforts secured the release of 110 hostages last month.
Regarding Hamas’s conditions for a deal, he says "they have all kinds of demands" including that "the war end and [Israel’s] troops are booted out... The minute we capitulate to that, Hamas wins. And we are obligated to eliminate [Hamas] and to get all the hostages back."
Asked what his vision is for Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
on the day after the war, Netanyahu says: "I said there will be demilitarization. I said the IDF will be responsible for security in the Gaza Strip, because there is no other factor that will ensure the fight against terrorism. And I can tell you that there will be a civil governance that does not educate its children to destroy Israel... I’m very clear on this."
He says much of Israel backs this, and that he has championed it for a long, long time.
Regarding a New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
report on Mossad revelations regarding Hamas’s money machine, and Israel’s failure to tackle the issue, Netanyahu says he is not aware of the report. "After the war," all these and other matters will be thoroughly investigated, he says.
Netanyahu: I won’t let ‘Hamastan’ turn into ‘Fatahstan’; Gaza will be demilitarized
[IsraelTimes] Continuing to address the nation in a press conference from IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Netanyahu argues that “only military pressure” secured the release of hostages in last month’s truce and only military pressure will secure the release of the rest of the hostages.
“Without it, we have nothing,” he says.
He reiterates that he will not allow “‘Hamastan’ to turn into ‘Fatahstan'” with the Palestinian Authority returning to govern Gaza, even if this is the wish of Israel’s staunchest ally.
He cites a survey last week that found 82% of Palestinians in the West Bank justify the October 7 slaughter, and notes that the PA has yet to condemn the onslaught. “They should control Gaza?” he asks, referring to the PA, and stresses that he won’t let that happen.
Rather, says, after Hamas is destroyed, “Gaza will be demilitarized” and pose no threat to Israel.
PM: I’m proud I blocked a Palestinian state. Looking at Gaza, everyone sees what would have happened
At the Tel Aviv press conference, Netanyahu is asked by a reporter why he did not withdraw from the Oslo Accords, given that he keeps criticizing them.
“I inherited the Oslo Accords,” he says. “The decision to bring the PLO from Tunis, and plant it in the heart of Judea and Samaria [West Bank], and in Gaza, was a decision made and implemented before I became prime minister. I thought it was a terrible mistake and I still do.”
Turning on the reporter, he says: “You and your journalist friends have been blaming me for almost 30 years for putting the brakes on the Oslo Accords, and preventing the Palestinian state. That’s true,” he says.
“I’m proud that I prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state because today everybody understands what that Palestine state could have been, now that we’ve seen the little Palestinian state in Gaza. Everyone understands what would have happened if we had capitulated to international pressures and enabled a state like that in Judea and Samaria, surrounding Jerusalem and on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant describes his own role in the 1990s as a senior IDF officer in Jenin tackling terrorism, and reducing it to a low. Then came the Oslo Accords, “and after a short time, 500 armed Palestinian policemen landed” in the Jenin area, “another 5,000 elsewhere in Judea and Samaria and 7,000 in Gaza.” That started a process with dire consequences, including the vast proliferation of weapons. “The Oslo Accords started that process” and the accords were rife with errors, Gallant says.
Answering a question about the Houthi threat, Gallant says the Yemeni rebels started out attacking ostensibly Israel-affiliated ships and are now attacking all kinds of shipping. “It’s a world problem that also affects Israel,” he says.
He adds that the Houthis have fired “dozens of missiles” at Israel, most of which were destroyed. “We are ready to act. We know what to do. We will find the timing,” says Gallant.
“We are giving a chance” for the international community to deal with the threat to shipping.