Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 17 rejected calls for fresh elections in Israel, saying that he will not bow to international pressure on Israel to halt its war against Hamas in Gaza.
“They are doing so by means of an effort to bring about elections now, at the height of the war,” the Israeli leader said.
“They are doing this because they know that elections now will halt the war and paralyze the country for at least six months.
“If we stop the war now, before all of its goals are achieved, this means that Israel will have lost the war, and this we will not allow. Therefore, we cannot, and will not, succumb to this pressure.”
His remarks came after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Israel to hold an election “once the war starts to wind down” to give Israelis a chance “to express their vision for the postwar future.”
Mr. Netanyahu said that he will not allow international pressure to impede Israel’s efforts to eliminate Hamas, release all hostages, and “ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel.”
Instead, he urged the international community to direct its demands at Hamas to release its remaining hostages.
“[A]pply your pressure to Hamas and its patron—Iran. It is they who constitute a danger to the region and to the entire world,” he said.
The Israeli leader said he had approved plans for military action in Rafah, defying international criticism. He emphasized advancing steps to evacuate civilians from combat zones ahead of the military action.
“Those who say that the action in Rafah will not occur are those who also said that we would not enter Gaza, or act in Shifa or in Khan Yunis, and that we would not resume the fighting after the lull,” he said.
”Therefore, I reiterate: We will operate in Rafah. This will take several weeks, and it will happen.”
He warned that civilian deaths resulting from the Gaza conflict are “pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”
“Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” he said. Mr. Schumer said he believes that a majority of the Israeli public will favor a change in leadership.
He said the United States cannot dictate the outcome of an Israeli election, but that if Mr. Netanyahu does remain in power and then “continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing U.S. standards” then the United States will “have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.”
President Joe Biden said that Mr. Schumer’s comments echoed the concerns of many Americans, describing the remarks as a “good speech.”
“It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there,” he told the news outlet. “That’s something the Israeli public does on its own—we’re not a banana republic.”
Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages during their Oct. 7, 2023, attack, triggering Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has stated that over 30,000 people have died in Gaza, of which Israel says more than 10,000 were Hamas soldiers.
