An IDF military operation in Gaza’s Rafah is a necessity to defeat Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he pushed back at US President Joe Biden’s opposition to the move given his fears that it would deepen the humanitarian disaster in the enclave.
“Look, it’s either Israel or Hamas. There’s no middle way. I mean, we have to have that victory,” Netanyahu told Fox & Friends on Monday morning.
Biden had told MSNBC one day earlier that a Rafah operation would cross a “red line.” Netanyahu shot back on Fox that Israelis have “a red line. We can’t let Hamas survive.”
When pressed about whether the US was pressuring Israel to halt the Gaza war, essentially to get their “foot off the gas,” Netanyahu retorted, “I’m telling you that we’re not getting off the gas.”
“I’m telling you that we have to take care of Israel’s security in our future, and that requires eliminating the terrorist army. That’s a prerequisite for victory,” Netanyahu said.
He spoke amid growing tension with Biden over Gaza, as the president’s reelection campaign heads into full gear. Biden in an interview with MSNBC attempted to divorce Netanyahu from the Israeli public, explaining that the prime minister’s policies concerning Gaza were harming the country.
The sensitive situation in Rafah
Rafah has been a particularly sensitive issue because there are 1.3 million Palestinians in that area near the Egyptian border, many of whom fled there to escape aerial bombings in the north.
The Biden administration which has supported Israel’s larger goal of destroying Hamas, has insisted that the IDF must present a plan to ensure that Palestinian civilians are protected.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington that “we support Israel’s right to defend itself and that will be our policy.”
Concerning Rafah, he said, “We have made clear” both privately and publicly “that it is our judgment that they can not and should not go into Rafah without a humanitarian assistance plan that is credible and that they can actually implement.”
He noted that Israel has publicly and privately assured the US that it would present such a plan, but had not yet done so.” In his interview with Fox, Netanyahu pledged that the IDF would “first enable the safe departure of the civilian population from Rafah before we go in. We agree with that. We don’t need any prompting.”
He spoke about the Rafah operation as talks for a deal to secure the release of the remaining 134 hostages appeared to be at a standstill. In the absence of a deal that would have seen a six-week pause to the Gaza war, the US has increased its focus on securing the delivery of humanitarian assistance. It has accused Israel of not doing enough to prevent hunger in the enclave.
Miller reaffirmed for reporters that the US was moving forward with plans to build an emergency temporary floating port so that supplies could arrive from the sea. It was also airdropping food supplies and workmen to ensure additional land routes, Miller said. “We have seen modest improvements in the distribution of aid,” Miller said, but added, that Israel still needed to do more.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) assured the American Jewish community that the Israeli people appreciate Biden’s support when he addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “The people of Israel saw the president visit us in the middle of a war,” Lapid said as he referred to Biden’s visit to Israel at the start of the war in October.
He also thanked the congressional members from the Republican and Democratic Parties who made solidarity visits to Israel in the last five months. “The people of Israel recognize real support in its most practical terms. From Iron Dome to the American aircraft carriers which were sent here to protect our shores,” he stated.
Lapid lauded Biden for focusing on the day after in Gaza, noting that such a conversation was “essential.” He also issued a veiled attack against Netanyahu for his very public spat with Biden, as he assured AIPAC that there was indeed a difference between the Israeli people and their government; “I know it is not easy to work on Israel with the administration at the moment.
“You need to know that the fight between our governments is unnecessary. It is meant for domestic politics. “We have people here, at the highest levels, who mistakenly think that it will help them with their political base. “That is stupid, and you are allowed to say so out loud. It is also not what Israel feels,” Lapid said.