Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said President Biden’s threat to halt weapons to Israel was “grossly misguided.”
“Certainly President Biden has always been a great friend to Israel, but I think this decision is very misguided,” Bennett told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday.
“What are we being told here?” he continued. “There is a radical jihadist terrorist organization on our borders that claims it will continue to kill as many Jews as possible. Clearly, we have to get rid of it. We have no choice. There’s no room.”
Bennett said Hamas is hiding behind civilians and Biden’s threat to stop sending weapons to Israel is a “grave mistake” because Israel “really has no choice.” And they said, “We have to do what we have to do.”
His comments came as the United States said it would stop supplying bombs, artillery shells and other offensive weapons to Israel if Israeli forces launch an invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled. This follows Biden’s declaration on Wednesday.
“Civilians are being killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of bombs and other attacks on populated areas,” Biden told Barnett.
Biden said he had made it clear that Israel would not be supplied with weapons if it entered Rafah.
The White House has urged Israel to come up with a plan to evacuate refugees before they enter the city, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said nothing about plans to destroy Hamas, which he claims is hiding in Rafah. I am adamant about it.
Bennett said Israel would “never” use weapons against civilians in the Gaza Strip, but said “all wars” involve “collateral damage”.
Mr Barnett pressed the former prime minister about Israel’s alleged “stockpile” of weapons that could be used to enter Rafah without US assistance, asking whether that stockpile included US weapons. .
“I don’t know. I think some of them do,” he replied, adding that he is not currently in a government job.
Bennett went on to say he didn’t understand why Israel was reluctant to enter Rafah, saying he should have entered the country about four months ago.
“This approach is too slow, but better late than never,” he said.
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