""He is not guilty": This is MK Tali Gottlieb's interpretation of Netanyahu's responsibility

8 November 2023   

MK Tali Gottlieb spoke today (Wednesday) with Gadi Ness on Radio North 104.5FM about the US President's request for a humanitarian ceasefire in the fighting - and the request not to bomb the Shifa Hospital in Gaza, where Hamas headquarters are located. How is compensation given to someone whose home was damaged? Is there compensation for the property of a passerby? ""May God avenge the blood of our heroic soldiers who fell in a war of survival, and may no one tell you otherwise," she said. "And because we are in a war of survival that is trying to reduce its intensity like this, I remind you that we need to gather to remember that they almost conquered the southern kibbutzim and it took us three days to purify them for sovereign Israeli control. We received a resounding slap in the face, we are in a war to restore security as is our duty as a state to the citizens, because none of us has a sense of security, all our basic myths have been broken. In the face of the tremendous tragedy, the army went from zero to one hundred and we are scattered in the south and the north, and in my opinion the Judea and Samaria sector could also open up evil against us and I warn you all the time, don't be confused." She added: "Just this morning I wrote that the Palestinian Authority is carrying out a terrorist attack in the form of burning toxic waste that the smell of the waste reaches Givat Shmuel, Petah Tikva, Kiryat Ono, we can't breathe outside. It's unbelievable and it's all under our protection. The army knows how to work excellently and our commanders are brave beyond compare. But, the experience To downplay the importance of this war, to restore the country's strength in the eyes of the nations of the world and in the eyes of our enemies first and foremost - you hear interviews with terrorist operatives, that the army is not what it used to be. The army is not only what it was, it is also how it was - it simply needs to receive appropriate orders from the directive." On the need to bomb Shifa Hospital, she said: "He who shows mercy to the cruel, shows mercy to the merciful. Unfortunately, I am not a member of the government, I am in the Knesset, but in war, government decisions do not reach the validation of the Knesset, so no matter what I say and I shout in the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee almost every day, and I tell you that according to the international laws of warfare in the Geneva Conventions - it is true that it is forbidden to bomb fuel sources or hospitals, unless it is proven that they support or constitute a factor or base for terrorist activity. "Not only is Shifa Hospital a source for the disposal of explosives in huge quantities and a meeting place for Hamas and senior Hamas figures. There are also tunnel openings, not only is it not forbidden - it is mandatory! Of course, with advance notice. But why should I endanger my soldiers by entering the hospital on foot? If Hamas is using people as human shields, we have proposed alternative solutions, to establish a field hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, but I would endanger soldiers by entering a hospital where Hamasniks would come out like cockroaches from holes? No! Our strength is such that it should also be in relation to the proposals of this or that president or diplomat or country. "America respects us and identifies with us very much, but it's not 100% an overlap of interests. The US has a great interest in having very good relations with us because we are an excellent power in the Middle East, and amidst the chaos of the Persian Sea and the region, the US also has a great interest in having good relations with us, we are an excellent power that goes hand in hand with it. "So it's true that we receive from them, and that's why, unfortunately, we opened a humanitarian corridor and provided goods and prevented a blockade that could have led us to intelligence and cooperation to return the kidnapped. Because with hunger and thirst, we would not only harm Hamas, we would cause cooperation from people who would have given us intelligence. "Do you imagine that if I begged Hamas, they would return a kidnapped person to me? No." Regarding the expectation of a state investigation and Prime Minister Netanyahu's interview on the ABC network in which he took responsibility, she responded: "Well done, the Prime Minister really has constructive responsibility for everything that happens in the country, what's the shame? Netanyahu is not guilty of an intelligence picture that was painted with clearly incorrect paradigms. He is not responsible for information gaps, he is not responsible for when a plane took off - but he has constructive responsibility. I don't think I have constructive responsibility either? If I warn for three days based on my own source that there is artillery activity in Gaza and training to hit military strongholds and I am already forced to write on Twitter that no one is listening, I also have responsibility, maybe I should have shouted more or done more." According to her, "The head of the National Defense Ministry was also interviewed a week before the events and said that he is aware that the PA is transferring money to Hamas, but that is the least of the evils. The whole paradigm of economic support in exchange for silence is a delusional paradigm and we have accepted it in its full horror. Of course, a state investigation committee should be established, we all need to be held accountable, the entire system. I myself am collecting evidence and materials. After the war, when we win, we will deal with it." Gottlieb again addressed Biden's requests for a ceasefire: "We must not blink even for a second. Hamas's ethos and perception of themselves right now, it is called victory consciousness. This is an organization that will be ready to finish off every last one of its soldiers and every last one of its terrorists because it feels that it started this war with a picture of victory that the Arab world has not known for years." On the Ombudsman's decision regarding the frozen coalition funds: "She clarified the government's position, did not interfere in the decision, she may want to take the glory. The government has already decided that coalition funds will be properly channeled to support the envelope and to deal with the damage of the war. More than that - it would be better for government ministries that are not working to transfer their entire budget to support the envelope and the civilians. I say to Minister Smotrich, we cannot escape increasing the deficit anyway, so open your pocket and divert the funds to support the public, the employees and the self-employed because the self-employed are the productive body that sustains the economy. We are in an existential war. There is no choice.".