Resisting the pressure

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 9th of April, 2024.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

First up: a somber anniversary for Israel. Sunday marked 6 months since Hamas launched an unprovoked attack on Israel. The attack killed more than a thousand Israelis, along with hundreds more kidnapped and more than 100 held hostage to this day.

Over the weekend, American Jews held a rally in Washington. Here’s one of the speakers outside the Lincoln Memorial.

MEIRAV LESHEM GONEN: I'm the mother of Romi Gonen, a beautiful 23-year-old young woman held by the cruel hand of Hamas for six months now. I ask the free world, “Let my people go.”

REICHARD: On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is a step away from victory in Gaza. But two missile strikes last week complicate things.

That’s when Israel struck a consulate building next to the Iranian embassy in Syria. Iranian military officials were meeting with members of Hezbollah.

Iran promised retribution.

BROWN: That same day, an Israeli drone strike killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen, who were delivering food in Gaza. While Israel took responsibility for what it said was an unintentional attack, President Joe Biden said he was outraged. In a phone call on Thursday, he demanded Israel do better, or else.

Reporters asked National Security Advisor John Kirby about it.

REPORTER: Is the president threatening to withhold aid to Israel if they do not make these changes?

KIRBY: The president made it clear that our policies with respect to Gaza, will be dependent upon our assessment of how well the Israelis make changes and implement changes to make the situation in Gaza better for the Palestinian people.

REICHARD: Joining us now to talk about what’s going on is Itamar Marcus. He’s the founder and director of the Israel-based organization, Palestinian Media Watch.

Itamar, welcome back to the program!

ITAMAR MARCUS: Thank you very much

REICHARD: Of these two missile strikes, do you think one or the other will have greater consequences for what happens next?

MARCUS: I think they're both going to have impact and but it's gonna be a completely different impact. Iran, primarily has been embarrassed. So they have promised a serious response. I mean, Israel has been put on high alert, all leaves in the in the army were canceled. I know a number of people who had been released not so long before from the army who received draft call ups. So Israel understands that because of their image and their pride, Iran is going to do something. So that's going to be significant. And we're all waiting to find out what it's going to be.

Now regarding the tragedy in the Gaza Strip that the aid workers were killed, I don't think anyone in the world who has any sense thinks that Israel would have done something like that on purpose. The fact that Israel has been pounced on by so many Western countries and condemned for this is just unbelievable, because every military person who has experience in combat, whether it was in Iraq, or in Mosul, or wherever it was, the civilian casualties were much, much higher. Everyone was saying that no one has done anything like Israel to prevent civilian casualties. And I think it's tragic that the United States is putting extra pressure on Israel to fight with, you know, one and a half hands behind our back because of this tragedy. There have been collateral damage to civilians when terrorists were also attacked. That definitely happened, but I don't remember specifically. I think this is the first time where there was an intentional targeting of a vehicle that turned out to be a vehicle of aid workers. I think that the United States should be praising Israel, and say, “Wow, you've been there six months, and this is the first mistake like this. That's really incredible. Keep up the good work.”

REICHARD: The Biden administration is pushing for the formation of a Palestinian state, and I want to get your take on this. Is the Palestinian Authority able to replace Hamas with a better governing solution in Gaza?

MARCUS: Since October 7, the PA and Hamas have gone through a whole cycle. Initially, after the 1200 Israelis were murdered and tortured and raped, etc. Hamas became so popular in the Palestinian Authority that the Palestinian Authority had to join with Hamas. They were celebrating the murder. They were celebrating the killings, even though Hamas is their political enemy. They had no choice. There was one poll, this is a Palestinian poll, 98% of Palestinians were proud of the events since October 7. So here's the Palestinian Authority dilemma: The world wants a new government free from terror, but the Palestinian Authority knows that to their own people, they have no legitimacy without having Hamas join them in a unified government. So what the PA is trying to do is they want to put masks on Hamas. They want to have Hamas be a partner, but in a way that they can lie to the Western world and say it's not really Hamas, its people X, Y and Z. And that's what we're going to see in the future. We're going to see this game of the PA talking about how wonderful it is to unite with Hamas to their own people. And we hear this almost every day.

REICHARD: How has the average Israeli changed his or her thinking about the Palestinian issue, compared to before October 7th?

MARCUS: For many Israelis now after six months, most Israelis, understand that with a genocidal religious population who believes that Allah wants the murder and ultimately extermination of Jews, we have no one to talk to. And it's made people recognize that we have to strengthen ourselves. There's no longer compromising on the idea of a Palestinian state. A Palestinian state will be an existential threat to Israel. As the Palestinian Authority tells its people, they tell their people a Palestinian state is the first step toward destroying Israel. So most Israelis completely reject a Palestinian state today. The fact that the entire world is ignoring this and is willing to create an Iran state right next Israel on absolutely indefensible borders is really tragic. And we have to just keep working with our friends around the world, the political leaders around the world who actually do care about Israel, that point out that you don't want Iran, you certainly wouldn't want Iran to replace Mexico or Canada. Why do you want Iran sitting on our border? Because that's what you're asking us to do.

REICHARD: Itamar Marcus is founder and director of the Israel-based organization, Palestinian Media Watch. Itamar, thank you for your time.

MARCUS: Thank you.

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