The Government of Israel is united in its desire to return the hostages as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal.
The Prime Minister authorized the negotiating team to present a proposal to that end, which would also enable Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities.
The actual proposal put forward by Israel, including the conditional transition from one phase to the next, allows Israel to uphold these principles.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
PM Netanyahu: "The repeated false claims that we are the obstacle are not only harmful to the families – that much is obvious, and I sympathize with them. But it goes beyond that: it delays the release of the hostages and undermines negotiations.
Instead of focusing pressure on Sinwar, who holds the hostages in his dungeons, the pressure is misdirected at the Israeli government.
Israel is constantly asked to make concession after concession. So why would Sinwar feel any pressure?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the opening ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day at @yadvashem:
"Eighty years ago, in the Holocaust, the Jewish people were totally defenseless against those who sought our destruction.
No nation came to our aid.
Today, we again confront enemies bent on our destruction. I say to the leaders of the world, no amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum, will stop Israel from defending itself.
As the Prime Minister of Israel – the one and only Jewish state – I pledge here today from Jerusalem on this Holocaust Remembrance Day:
If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.
"You have to hear this to believe this. The International Criminal Court in The Hague is contemplating issuing arrest warrants against senior Israeli government and military officials as war criminals.
This would be an outrage of historic proportions.
International bodies like the ICC arose in the wake of the Holocaust committed against the Jewish people. They were set up to prevent such horrors, to prevent future genocides.
Yet now the International Court is trying to put Israel in the dock. It's trying to put us in the dock as we defend ourselves against genocidal terrorists and regimes, Iran of course, that openly works to destroy the one and only Jewish state.
"What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific. Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty.
This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. It’s unconscionable. It has to be stopped. It has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally.
But that’s not what happened. The response of several university presidents was shameful.
Now, fortunately, state, local, federal officials, many of them have responded differently but there has to be more. More has to be done. It has to be done not only because they attack Israel, that’s bad enough,
The Prime Minister was briefed on enlistment data and was impressed by the recruits' great motivation to serve in the IDF in general, and in combat positions in particular.
He spoke with the new recruits and answered their questions, and then joined the new recruits for lunch.
Prime Minister Netanyahu to the new recruits:
"This is a very significant day in your lives and in the life of the state. The state exists thanks to our ability to defend ourselves. These attacks have not ceased since we established the state;
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks at the start of the Government meeting:
"Today we are marking six months of the war. The achievements of the war are considerable: We have eliminated 19 of Hamas's 24 battalions, including senior commanders.
We have cleared out Shifa and other terrorist command centers. We have destroyed factories for producing rockets, command centers, and stores of weapons and ammunition, and continuק to systematically destroy underground installations.
However, the price that we have had to pay has been painful and high.
In the past day, four of our heroic fighters have fallen in Khan Yunis: Cpt. Ido Baruch, Sgt. Amitai Even Shoshan, Sgt. Reef Harush and Sgt. Ilai Zair.