Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday morning 25 Kislev 5773 made the following remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting:

“Yesterday we were re-exposed to our enemies’ true face. They have no intention of compromising with us; they want to destroy the state. They will fail, of course; in the annals of the history of our people, we – the Jewish People – have overcome such enemies.

But it is interesting that Abu Mazen has issued no condemnation, not of the remarks about the destruction of Israel, just as previously he did not condemn the missiles that were fired at Israel. To my regret, he strives for unity with the same Hamas that is supported by Iran.

We in the Government have no illusions. We want a true peace with our neighbors. But we will not close our eyes and stick our heads in the sand. We are not prepared to repeat the same mistake of a unilateral withdrawal and withdrawals that, in effect, led Hamas to take control of Gaza. I have always been astonished at the delusions of others who are prepared to continue this process and call it peace. You would hand over more territory, in this case in Judea and Samaria that controls Israel’s cities, to the same people and the result, of course, will be a Gaza on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Chadera and Kfar Saba.

Therefore, we must – and are capable of – standing against this. We will also withstand the international pressure, were it not for which, we would not have reached this point. Today, this is what is required from leadership in Israel – to have no illusions, to stand up for the vital interests of the State of Israel and to rebuff the pressure to bring Gaza into every home in Israel. This is what we are doing and will continue to do.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)