An Israeli victory against Hamas is a win against the Iranian axis of terror, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News late Monday night as he attempted to link the fate of the Jewish state with that of the Western world.
“Everyone is waiting to see who is going to win,” Netanyahu said as Israel’s military campaign to oust Hamas in Gaza continues into its second month.
“We have to make sure that the forces of good—the forces of peace—win,” he said.
“If Israel is in peril, if Israel goes down, Europe is next and you are next," Netanyahu said. "We have to win; there is no substitute for total victory.”
The axis of terror
“There is an axis of terror here against an alliance for peace: the axis of terror is controlled by Iran, run by Iran [and] financed by Iran,” the prime minister said.
Iran backs Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen, he said, pointing to groups that have attacked Israel.
“They [the Iranian terror axis] want to bring the world back to the Dark Ages, the Early Middle Ages: that is what they are about,” he said.
“And on the other side stands Israel, the moderate Arab states, [the] United States, [and] all the forces that want to see peace and prosperity for the Middle East and the world.”
When the Iranian axis of terror sees that it has been defeated in one place, it will understand that it can be defeated in another place, he said.
“We have to send a message to the axis of terror that we are not going to let you do this,” the prime minister said. “It’s our civilization against their barbarism."
Netanyahu said Israel also has to ensure that terror groups are not allowed to use human shields to prevent military forces from going after them.
If the international community says that terror groups are immune when they have human shields, then they can never be defeated, he said.