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PM Netanyahu to a Bipartisan US Congressional Delegation Organized by AIPAC: "We have to win. There is no substitute for victory."

Israel - Prime Minister's Office

The 37th Government
27.03.2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today, at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, met with a bipartisan US Congressional delegation, organized by AIPAC.

The Prime Minister welcomed the members of the delegation on their arrival and thanked them for the broad support for the State of the Israel among the American public. He also briefed them on the fighting in the Gaza Strip and answered their questions.

Prime Minister Netanyahu to the US Congressional delegation:

"I'm delighted to see all of you. You've been long-time friends of Israel. You're great supporters. It's very important for us to maintain bipartisan support at all times, but especially in these trying times. I want to use this opportunity of our conversation to try to straighten out and also dispel some of the things that are being said about our bipartisan alliance and the importance of maintaining it.

I don't know if you know this, but I think it was about a week ago or two weeks ago. Iran officially launched, along with Hezbollah, a campaign, which means Hamas, the Houthis and so on, but the formal policy is to shift from an ideological position of destroying Israel to a practical, long-term plan to bring about the destruction of the state.

We have to win. There is no substitute for victory.

How do we achieve this victory? It doesn't nullify the other needs: How to take care of Hezbollah, how to take care of Iran, how to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, which would make this threat a hundred times bigger, how to prevent these militias from firing into Israel rockets from Yemen or from Baghdad, precise rockets that could reach this room right now. How do we deal with that? These are big questions, but it starts with a necessary condition—and that condition is that those who launched this genocidal attack must be defeated.

How do you do that? What we've set out at the outset, with the support of President Biden and the administration - important support, which we appreciate deeply - was to say, the first thing: Our goal is to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has to be eliminated. Not as in idea. Nazism wasn't destroyed as an idea in World War Two, but Nazis do not govern Germany. There are still Neo-Nazis around, but you destroyed that organization.

The second thing was to get our hostages out. They are simultaneous goals, because the military action is what produces the pressure to release the hostages. We've released half. We intend to release all of them.

The third thing is to ensure that, indeed that Gaza doesn't pose a threat to Israel again."

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi and the Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Adviser, Dr. Ophir Falk, also attended the meeting.

The delegation included Brad Schneider (D-IL), Jim Costa (D-CA), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Valerie Foushee (D-NC), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Norma Torres (D-CA) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), as well as senior AIPAC officials.