President Isaac Herzog defended Israeli conduct during the war in Gaza on Piers Morgan's show Uncensored on Wednesday.
Morgan invited Herzog to defend Israeli conduct during the war in Gaza, first asking for the president's reaction to the announcement that Ireland, Norway, and Spain would recognize Palestine by the end of the month.
Herzog called them "futile steps" that would not cause any progress, he continued saying, "In order to reach any possible path for the future, there must be negotiations by the two sides."
Asked about the acceptance of a Palestinian state in Israel, saying "following October 7, in Israel, the deep feeling is that the neighbors that everybody promised us will be peaceful neighbors have attacked us in a brutal way and killed and butchered and raped and abducted first and foremost the biggest supporters of peace in Israel."
"There is also a national feeling that there is no trust – and in order to move to any possible future, there must be first and foremost trust."
He also said that declarations made in foreign offices designed to appease internal political pressures would not help Palestinians or Israelis.
ICC investigating in bad faith
Herzog also criticized the International Criminal Court, saying "First and foremost that this announcement by the prosecutor has been carried out in bad faith."
Elaborating, he said, "We agreed to have a dialogue and bring the prosecutor to Israel, and his chief of staff was supposed to land in Israel at 6 p.m., two days ago, and all of a sudden, he rescinded his visit, and the announcement came out. And it shocked all of us because we acted in good faith, and we are waiting to have a dialogue with any international body that is relevant and honest."
Morgan questioned Herzog over whether Israel would occupy Gaza after the war, asking how an Israeli occupation of Gaza would help maintain the peace when it would likely just engender more distrust and hatred of Israel.
Herzog denied that Israel was going to preoccupy Gaza, saying that the solutions were being discussed in the Israeli cabinet and that decisions would be made shortly. "I outright reject the notion that we intend to occupy Gaza. We have to find who will rule Gaza. This takes time. Nobody wants to go in 'boots-on-the-ground' and rule Gaza."