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Excerpt from PM Netanyahu's Knesset Remarks

Israel - Prime Minister's Office

Events and Speeches
The 37th Government
24.06.2024

Following are remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today, at the Knesset:

"Mr. Speaker,
Members of Knesset,

'Hold your head high, don't stop until we win.' That's what Oren Smadja said last Friday at the funeral of his son, Omer, who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip. Lily Deri said at the funeral of her son, Saadiya, who fell in battle alongside Omer, 'The great sacrifice we made will not be in vain. We demand absolute victory and a clear conclusion.' This is the self-sacrifice of the fighters of Israel. This is the self-sacrifice of the people of Israel.

We are not willing to compromise on less than a total victory over the murderers of Hamas. We have struck down thousands of them. We are hounding their leaders. We will continue to do so until we eliminate Hamas's military and governing capabilities. Until we return our 120 hostages, both living and deceased. Until we ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat against Israel. And until we return the residents of the south and the north safely to their homes. Nothing will stop us.

We are in a fight for our existence, a fight being conducted on seven fronts. The attack against us is being led by Iran, which openly seeks to destroy us.

Iran and its proxies have been scheming to do this through missile attacks against Israel and by invading our territory. The more we deepen the war in the Gaza Strip, the more we discover additional evidence of the scope of the multi-front campaign against us. We will thwart this campaign. We will thwart it because Iran has completely misjudged us. It did not take into account our strength, our capabilities, our determination to defend ourselves and to impose a destructive cost on our aggressor.

I say to you, Members of Knesset, and to the citizens of Israel, we are faced with great challenges and we face difficult decisions. They will require sacrifice, courage and internal unity.

I promise you three things.

First, we will not end the war until we return all of our hostages - 120 hostages, the living and the deceased. We are committed to the Israeli proposal, which President Biden has welcomed. Our position has not changed.

Second, which does not contradict the first, we will not end the war until we eliminate Hamas and until we return the residents of the south and the north securely to their homes.

And third - at any price and in any way, we will thwart Iran's intentions to destroy us.

I would like to tell you one more thing: During wartime, I have no intention of discussing commissions of inquiry. I said previously that now is not the time for this.

But I will tell you that the decisions I made regarding the submarines and ships were and remain vital for ensuring our security against Iran's axis of evil. Some already were proven during the present war. The ships that we brought intercepted the drone attack directed at the State of Israel during the present war. They saved many lives.

What would have happened if I had not made the decision to bring these ships here? You speak to me of bureaucratic processes? I am talking about Israel's security. My decision was vital to Israel's security. Reality has already proved this and history will prove it even more strongly. And no commission of inquiry appointed by the previous government for a clear political purpose will change that. And if we are speaking about ships, unfortunately there are some people who are drilling holes in the ship of state during wartime. While our heroic soldiers are fighting courageously for the security of the entire nation, some people are trying to weaken our spirit. They repeatedly insist that the IDF cannot win. They scorn, incite and deride, they normalize violence.

But this is only a vocal minority. The majority of the country rejects this extremism. The majority of the country is united in the profound understanding that we cannot ease our war efforts. They are united in the knowledge that we must win, that we must unite and not be divided, that we must remember that the enemy is without and not within. And the majority of the country is right. They are right. We must fight together for our existence. We must fight together against our enemies.

Together we will fight and with G-d's help, together we will win."