ISRAEL won’t stop until Hamas is defeated despite Joe Biden telling Benjamin Netanyahu he’s making a mistake, his ex-spokesman insists.
Eylon Levy said the war had become a “problem they [the US] would like to wish away” as he rebuked the US President‘s comments.
The SunEylon Levy told The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots that Israel will continue until Hamas is defeated[/caption]
The SunHe spoke to The Sun’s Political Editor Harry Cole[/caption]
Fire and smoke fill the sky after an airstrike in Gaza
He said that Biden is “throwing Israel under a bus” as he appeared on The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots, due to air tonight at 7pm on The Sun’s YouTube channel and thesun.co.uk.
Political Editor Harry Cole will also grill Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting in tonight’s no-holds-barred show.
Mr Levy, who until recently was a spokesman for the Israeli government, said the US is “throwing Israel under a bus”.
Biden has called Netayahu‘s handling of the war in Gaza a “mistake” and has called on his government to send in more aid.
A widening rift has been growing between the two staunch allies as Biden’s support of Israel’s war against Hamas appears to wane.
The most serious disagreement has been over Israel’s plans for an offensive in the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah.
Relations were worsened last week by an Israeli airstrike that killed seven charity workers. Israel said the deaths were unintentional but Biden was outraged.
In an interview recorded two days later, Biden branded Israel’s actions in Gaza a “mistake”.
When asked if Netanyahu is prioritising his political survival over the national interest, he told Univision: “What he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach.”
Biden said Israel should agree to a cease-fire, flood beleaguered Gaza with aid for the next six to eight weeks and allow other countries in the region to help distribute the aid.
“It should be done now”, he added.
But Mr Levy dismissed Biden’s remarks, saying Israel would plough on with its mission to take down Hamas in revenge for the deadly October 7 assault.
He told Never Mind The Ballots: “Israel is going to continue going after Hamas, doing everything it can to bring back the hostages.
“We know Hamas and Islamic jihad are executing the hostages, starving them, torturing them, raping them, and we’re not going to allow that to continue.”
Mr Levy accused Biden of “throwing Israel under a bus” as the presidential election nears.
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He added: “I don’t think anyone expected this war to last quite as long as it has.
“Unfortunately now we’re entering well into the American presidential calendar, the war has become more than a distraction.
“It’s become a political problem for President Biden, who is now coming under increasing pressure from the left of his party.
“President Biden knows that for him the ultimate foreign policy victory will be for Israel to destroy and defeat Hamas and bring back the hostages.
“And if this war which Hamas started ends with the terrorist army still on its feet, threatening to repeat the atrocities of October 7 again and again then that will be a shocking indictment of American policy in this war.
Mr Levy conceded that there “increasingly seems there is a crisis” in relations between the US and Israel.
He said: “I think for the United States and other countries as well this war has become a problem they would like to wish away.
“Unfortunately for us here in Israel, we don’t have a magic wand or a magic bullet to make this problem go away because Gaza isn’t like when you were fighting against ISIS in Iraq thousands of miles away, it’s in our backyard.
“We still have 133 hostages there, we cannot afford to leave Hamas on its feet.
“The solution isn’t to throw Israel under a bus, the solution is to do everything possible to help civilians while standing by Israel’s side.
Israel ‘ working on a plan’ for Gaza
Joe Biden has urged Israel to lay down its arms in Gaza and allow it to be flooded with aid.
But Mr Levy said Israel is working on a plan to get civilians to safety.
He told Never Mind The Ballots: “President Biden has said Israel has every right to go after Hamas. He hasn’t ruled out an operation in Rafah.
“He said he wants to see a plan that will enable civilians to be protected, and Israel is working on such a plan to help evacuate civilians, get them out of harm’s way temporarily, so that we can destroy the last four Hamas battalions inside Gaza.
“As the Prime Minister here has been saying, you don’t extinguish three quarters of a fire, you extinguish the whole thing.”
“And if the US and other countries want to see a deal that will get aid in and hostages out that isn’t to pressure Israel, that is to pressure Hamas.
“Increasingly it seems that there is a crisis in relations between Israel and the US.”
Israel halted aid deliveries to Gaza in the early days of the war, but under US pressure has slowly increased trucks allowed to enter the territory.
But aid groups have complained that supplies are not reaching desperate people quickly enough, blaming Israeli restrictions.
Israel and Hamas have been locked in talks over a proposed cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages captured by Hamas.
But the sides remain far apart on key issues, including the return of Palestinians to hard-hit northern Gaza.
Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet met late Tuesday to discuss the hostage negotiations but did not appear to make any decisions.
The Israeli leader has vowed to achieve total victory in the war, pledging to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities to prevent a repeat of the October 7 attack and to return the hostages.
He says that victory must include an offensive in Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last major stronghold, but more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are currently seeking shelter there.
AFPBenjamin Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure to allow a ceasefire[/caption]
ReutersJoe Biden called Netanyahu’s actions in Gaza a ‘mistake’[/caption]
AFPSmoke billows during Israeli strikes on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 9[/caption]
Who are Hamas?
HAMAS is an Islamist militant group founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian Intifada or uprising against Israel.
The terror organisation is a Palestinian militant movement that also serves as one of the territories’ two major political parties.
Over the years, Hamas has carried out shooting, bombing, and rocket attacks in Israel and the two region’s armies have fought in Gaza in multiple cross-border since the group seized control of Gaza in 2007.
But the group drew worldwide attention when they commited a set of horror attacks on October 7, 2023.
They launched surprise land, air, and sea attacks on Israel, killing over hundreds of Israelis and leaving thousands more injured.
Since then the brutal warfare has continued and thousands have died on both sides of the fighting.
Hamas as a whole, or in some cases its military wing, is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the US, the EU, and the UK, as well as other powers.