Netanyahu: I'm ready for partial deal to return hostages, but not leave Hamas intact

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interviewed this evening (Sunday) on Channel 14’s “The Patriots” program and addressed the current phase of the war: “The intense phase of the war is about to end. This will happen very soon,” Netanyahu said.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was quick to respond to the prime minister’s remarks: “Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip and encouraging the voluntary emigration of Gaza residents are realistic and will bring about the realization of the concept of total victory. Just as we settled in Judea and Samaria after 1967, we can do so again in the Gaza Strip after 2024.”

A senior Israeli official involved in negotiations spoke about the hostage deal, saying “Netanyahu’s remarks this evening have caused enormous damage to the chances of reaching a deal.”

The prime minister also referred to reports that Hamas senior official Raed Saad was eliminated over the weekend: “Yesterday we may have eliminated Hamas’s number 4; We are striking them with force.”

Regarding the evacuated residents, he said: “We will bring everyone home, the residents of the North and the South. I am willing to make a partial deal that will bring back our hostages, but I am not willing to make a deal that will leave Hamas in place. Gantz and Eisenkot did something unacceptable; they left the government during a war with seven fronts, which is unacceptable,” he said in response to the departure of the National Unity Party from the government. “The public elected me; We are in a democracy.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded: “I recommend watching Netanyahu’s interview on Channel 14. Judge for yourselves if he can lead a country in crisis.”

Neyanyahu willing to compromise? Sinwar, Nasrallah, Netanyahu (credit: DANA KOPEL/POOL, Arab networks, Atiya Muhammad,/Flash 90)

Neyanyahu willing to compromise? Sinwar, Nasrallah, Netanyahu (credit: DANA KOPEL/POOL, Arab networks, Atiya Muhammad,/Flash 90)

What did Netanyahu hint about the US-Israel crisis?

Netanyahu also hinted at the crisis with the United States: “We must invest much more in security and self-production and free ourselves from dependence on others. I appreciate President Biden’s support at the beginning of the war. When it became clear that we were going to Rafah, we saw a dramatic halt in the supply of munitions from the US. We can fight with what we have, but more is always better. We need to defeat the arm that carried out this massacre against us. Everyone should understand that this is how we deal with those who start a war against Israel.”

On the one hand, he called for national unity: “I call on the vast majority of the people and say—this is the time for unity.”

But when referring to the weekly protests across the country, he said: “There is a very organized minority here that changes its focus each time—once about the coronavirus, once about the reform, but its goal is to topple the government and establish a left-wing government that will create a Palestinian state here. Their agenda is fixed: the overthrow of the government.”

“In all the warnings, it was emphasized that Hamas was deterred, but unfortunately, it was not deterred,” he added. “We know much more today than we knew before about the planning of the October 7 attack.”

In response to the prime minister’s remarks, the families of the hostages said: “The families’ headquarters sharply condemn the prime minister’s announcement of withdrawing from the Israeli proposal. This is the abandonment of 120 hostages and a violation of the state’s moral duty towards its citizens. Ending the fighting in the Strip without the release of the hostages is an unprecedented national failure and a failure to meet the war’s objectives. The families of the hostages will not let the government and its leader retreat from the basic commitments to the fate of our loved ones. The responsibility and duty to return all the hostages lie with the prime minister; there is no greater test than this.”

What is the Prime Minister’s Office's stance on the hostage deal?

The Prime Minister’s Office responded: “Hamas is the one opposing the deal, not Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu clarified that we will not leave Gaza until we bring back all 120 of our hostages, both the living and the dead.”