The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they happen.
Netanyahu says college protesters chanting ‘from the river to the sea’ are ‘supporting genocide’
In apparent shot at Biden and others, Netanyahu tells Dr. Phil that some world leaders privately tell him that Hamas needs to be destroyed, but “when they are faced with all this propaganda, all this madness in the campuses… they begin to fray, some of them. But I don’t fray. We’ll do what we have to do to protect ourselves.”
Asked further about the anti-Israel unrest at US universities, Netanyahu says Hamas’s stated aim of destroying Israel “is not resistance.”
“You have a lot of ignorant people, who I’m sorry to say, whose sense of history at best goes back to breakfast, not even that. They don’t have the faintest clue what Hamas is,” the prime minister says, citing Hamas’s treatment of homosexuals and women.
He continues: “When they say ‘from the river to sea,’ that’s wipe out the State of Israel. They’re supporting genocide. Now, this is a sorry state of American education… There’s a deep rot and a bankruptcy there.”
Dr. Phil then asks Netanyahu about surging antisemitism in the United States, which the premier blames on “a fusion of radical Islam and the ultra-anarchist left.”
“The only thing they agree on is that Israel has to be destroyed and America has to be destroyed,” he says.
PM hoping to overcome differences with Biden, says ‘no choice’ but to destroy Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he hopes he and US President Joe Biden can overcome their disagreements over the war in Gaza, after Biden withheld a shipment of bombs from Israel.
“We often had our agreements but we’ve had our disagreements. We’ve been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country,” Netanyahu says in an interview on the “Dr. Phil Primetime” show, which was taped before Biden’s threat on Wednesday to further withhold weapons if Israel enters Rafah.
Speaking in Jerusalem with the US television personality, the premier argues Israel “has no choice” but to destroy Hamas’s remaining battalions in Rafah.
“If we do not destroy them, if we leave them alone they’ll come back. They’ll emerge from the tunnels, they’ll take over Gaza again, and they’ll do what they promised to do: They’ll do October 7 — this enormous massacre — again, again and again,” Netanyahu says.
JFNA says withholding US arms for Israel encourages Hamas, endangers the hostages
The Jewish Federations of North America also comes out against US President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold additional armaments for Israel if it launches an offensive in Rafah, calling what he did “wrong.”
“Daylight between the US and Israel on military matters emboldens Hamas and other Iran-backed forces in the region, encourages their delay tactics, and endangers the hostages by weakening Israel’s negotiating hand at a critical juncture,” the umbrella group says in a statement.
It also says Biden’s “comments regarding civilians and humanitarian aid only serve to reinforce the false narratives anti-Israel and antisemitic extremists are violently spreading in campus protests,” in apparent reference to the US president responding in the affirmative when asked during a CNN interview “have those bombs been used to kill civilians in Gaza.”
“These outcomes go against the laudable aspirations President Biden enunciated this week, that ‘There is no place on any campus in America, any place in America, for antisemitism or hate speech or threats to violence of any kind, whether against Jews or anyone else,'” the JFNA statement adds.
“Even the strongest of allies sometimes disagree, but their mutual support should never waver.
After Biden threat, ADL says withholding arms from Israel ‘undermines our ally, emboldens terror’
The Anti-Defamation League releases a statement on the US administration’s decision to pause a shipment of bombs to Israel, and US President Joe Biden’s threat to hold up further transfer of weapons if the IDF enters Rafah.
“This move undermines our ally Israel, fails to put pressure on Hamas and emboldens terror while energizing Hezbollah and Iran, who specialize in toxic antisemitism and rabid anti-Zionism,” the ADL says.
The group also says that in order for the war to end, “Hamas must release the 132 hostages and disarm today.”
Netanyahu not planning to extend term of Israeli ambassador to US — report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not intend to extend the term of Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog when it expires in November this year, Channel 13 news reports.
Netanyahu could extend Herzog’s three-year term by another year, but has said privately that he does not intend to, despite the ambassador’s desire to continue, according to the report, pointing at disagreements between the two that began before the war on Hamas.
The report says Netanyahu’s associates want UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan to replace Herzog, but that a decision on the matter would not be made soon. Erdan briefly served as ambassador to US in addition to this posting at the United Nations before he was replaced by the incumbent envoy.
“Herzog was the main hub in the relationship between Israel and the United States and worked vigorously for American support in its many aspects, including during disagreements between the countries,” a source familiar with the details tells The Times of Israel.
“When asked, the ambassador expressed his willingness to extend his tenure beyond the scheduled end date in order to continue to help Israel in the war.”
Herzog, brother of President Isaac Herzog, assumed his post in November 2021.
IDF strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon after rocket and drone attacks
Israeli fighter jets struck buildings and other infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in the southern Lebanon towns of Kafr Kila, Alma ash-Shab, and Yaroun a short while ago, the military says.
The strikes come following repeated rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel today.
Israeli fighter jets struck buildings and other infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in the southern Lebanon towns of Kafr Kila, Alma ash-Shab, and Yaroun a short while ago, the military says. pic.twitter.com/LNml559Zmm
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