US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted this Thursday in Tel Aviv that as long as his country exists, Israel does not need to defend itself.
“The message I bring to Israel is that it can be done Hope you stay strong to protect yourself, but as long as the United States is there, you don’t have to. We will always be by your side,” Blinken said in a joint media appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Blinken confirmed that 25 Americans have died in Israel in recent days.
The head of American diplomacy indicated that the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and which launched an attack by land, sea and air against Israel last Saturday, did not carry out those “horrible acts with the interests of the Palestinian people in mind.”
“There is no excuse for these horrible acts,” said Blinken, who began his intervention by saying that He not only came to Israel as Secretary of State, but also as a Jew.
He stressed that “Israel has the right and obligation to protect” and to ensure that this does not happen again. Blinken said he has spoken with Netanyahu about the importance of how Israel fulfills that goal.
“We, Democracies, we distinguish ourselves from terrorists by having different standardseven if it is difficult, and to be accountable to ourselves,” he said. In that sense, he added, humanity and the value given to human life and dignity is what makes a democracy and what makes it strong .
“That’s why it’s so important to take everything precautions it is possible to avoid harming civilians and that is why we mourn the loss of every innocent life. Civilians of all faiths, of all nationalities died,” he said.
Netanyahu, who speaks Hebrew and Englishstated in the same media appearance that Blinken’s visit is “another tangible example of the unquestioning support of the US for Israel.”
He emphasized that “Hamas has proven to be the enemy of civilization” with the massacre of young people at an open-air music festival and the killing of whole families, among other actions. “President (Joe) Biden was right when he called it ‘pure evil,'” said the prime minister, likening Hamas to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group and expecting the Palestinian organization to be “crushed,” as happened to “Daesh”.
Netanyahu added that “the first requirement for victory is “moral peace”a concept that, he explained, Blinken discussed during the meeting they held this Thursday.
The American said in front of the media that “this is a moment of moral clarity”: “Unclear condemnation of terrorism not only puts the people of Israel at risk, but the people of the whole world, look at what has just happened, individuals from 36 countries have died or disappeared after these terrible attacks,” he emphasized.
Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday, where in addition to meeting Netanyahu he had a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, where he also discussed American support for Israel internationally and cooperation in the war against of Hamas.
This new war caused more than 1,300 Israeli deaths and 3,200 injuries; while retaliatory airstrikes by Israeli aviation claimed at least 1,200 lives and left more than 6,000 injured in Gaza.
