(Jerusalem Post) Eliav Breuer - Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, an opposition leader who joined a unity government at the beginning of the Gaza war, told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem on Sunday that he rejected calls for unilateral Palestinian statehood. "War now, peace later" Gantz said, as he stressed the importance of eliminating Hamas after close to two decades in which Israel tried every option to contain it. "We have tried everything but eliminating Hamas." He said Israel is "facing a very long journey to change the reality in Gaza....I would dare to say it would take a year, a decade, and a generation" to transform Gaza's governance and to ensure that Hamas does not regain control of Gaza. The Norwegians, the Americans are not going to rule Gaza, said Gantz, "no one is coming." Israel should retain security control, he said. "After Oct. 7, the pathway to regional stability and peace is not through one-sided actions like recognition of a Palestinian state," said Gantz, but rather through victory over Hamas. "Let me be clear, we are operating in Gaza not out of revenge for Oct. 7, but out of a clear conviction to secure our future - the future of Israel's next generations."
2024-02-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive