Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that defeating Israel\u2019s enemies is more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. <\/p>\n
While the prime minister acknowledged that freeing the 59 remaining hostages is a \u201cvery important goal,\u201d he described Israel\u2019s fight against its enemies as the \u201csupreme objective\u201d of the war. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have many objectives, many goals in this war. We want to bring back all of our hostages,\u201d Netanyahu said. \u201cThat is a very important goal. In war, there is a supreme objective. And that supreme objective is victory over our enemies. And that is what we will achieve.\u201d <\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s remarks, which came on Israel\u2019s Independence Day, mark the first time that the prime minister has explicitly described returning the hostages as a secondary goal of the war. He has previously described defeating Hamas and securing the release of the hostages as the primary goals of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza. <\/p>\n
His comments drew a backlash from representatives of hostage families. <\/p>\n
\u201cPrime minister, the return of the hostages is not \u2018less\u2019 important \u2013 it is the supreme goal that should guide the government of Israel,\u201d the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. \u201cThe families of the hostages are concerned.\u201d <\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s comments put him at odds with the majority of the Israeli public, which overwhelmingly supports a deal to release all the hostages and end the war in Gaza, according to recent opinion polls. <\/p>\n
But it puts the prime minister in the company of Israel\u2019s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who recently made similar comments. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to tell the truth \u2013 bringing back the hostages is not the most important goal. It is, of course, a very, very, very, very important goal,\u201d Smotrich said last week. \u201cBut anyone who wants to destroy Hamas and eliminate the possibility of another October 7 must understand that in Gaza, there can\u2019t be a situation where Hamas remains present and intact.\u201d <\/p>\n
Members of Netanyahu\u2019s governing coalition have been pushing the prime minister to continue fighting. Senior Israeli officials have warned for weeks that the military will intensify its operations in Gaza if there is no ceasefire agreement with Hamas. <\/p>\n
Israel says its bombardment of Gaza, coupled with a two-month total blockade, is an attempt to put pressure on Hamas to make concessions in ceasefire negotiations. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and said it cannot continue to rule the enclave. <\/p>\n
This is the second time this week that Netanyahu has faced backlash from the families of hostages. On Monday, his wife Sara was overheard on a microphone saying that \u201cfewer\u201d than 24 hostages are still alive in Gaza. The remark outraged families and prompted demands for clarity on what the government knows about their loved ones\u2019 fate, as well as questions on why the prime minister\u2019s wife has sensitive information about their loved ones that they do not. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou sowed indescribable panic in the hearts of the families of the hostages \u2013 families already living in agonizing uncertainty,\u201d the forum said in a statement. \u201cIf there is intelligence or new information regarding the condition of our loved ones, we demand full disclosure.\u201d <\/p>\n
Israel has publicly said in recent weeks that it believes up to 24 of the 59 remaining hostages are still alive. Sara Netanyahu\u2019s claim appears to be an indication that the government may have information that some of the 24 hostages have died. <\/p>\n
Pressure has also been mounting on Netanyahu from military reservists who have become increasingly vocal in their opposition to the war, with several public letters saying that the Gaza war mainly serves the political and personal interests of officials, not the country\u2019s security interests. <\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that defeating Israel\u2019s enemies is more important than…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}