Israeli President Isaac Herzog Says Displacing Palestinians ‘Officially and Unequivocally’ Not Israel’s Goal | Video
Israeli President Isaac Herzog joined Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, three months to the day the current war between Israel and Hamas began. Welker pressed Herzog on statements made by Israel government ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvi that called for Gazans to abandon their homes, and the president firmly stated, “I’m saying outright, officially and unequivocally, this is not the Israeli position.”
Herzog also appeared to attribute Smotrih and Ben-Gvi’s positions to collective trauma in the country.
“We should remember, however, the national psyche here,” Herzog said. “We are in deep trauma in the last three months. We have seen so much agony, pain and sadness. And may I remind all that we still have over 130 Israelis [being held hostage] from babies, from toddlers, one of them due to celebrate 1-year-old in a week’s time, all the way to 85-year-olds, as well, including people with Holocaust background.”
“So,” Herzog added, “because of that, our nation is bereaving, is worried, is agonized, and we are doing whatever we can to do whatever it takes to bring back these hostages.”
At the beginning of the interview, Herzog told Welker that the conflict extends far beyond the borders of Israel and Palestine. He explained, “It’s not only a war between Israel and Hamas. It has to do with the values of the free world as we see them all throughout.”
Herzog then produced a document he asserted was “a directive by the commanders of Hamas as to how to manage summer camps for children in order to disseminate the values of jihad.”
“It says it clearly, ‘to disseminate the values of jihad and the values of the resistance,'” Herzog added, “meaning terror, ‘and how to make it a militarized society.’ And it’s all over the Gaza Strip, meaning they take the kids– whilst we all know what summer camps are and what they’re aimed for, and what a wonderful experience it is to enable youngsters, kids and adolescents, to become citizens of the free world with liberties, with happiness, with joy, with sports — here, the entire aim is to make them terrorists.”
Welker noted, “NBC News has not been able to review the document or confirm it.”
When asked if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should condemn the statements from ministers Smotrih and Ben-Gvi, Herzog replied, “So, I would say that, as the head of state of Israel, I’m not directly involved in the political arena by taking sides. I’m not in charge of the executive, but I do represent the national spirit of Israel from my capacity as president of Israel.
“I’m sure the prime minister will relate to it, undoubtfully,” he added. “But it is one of the items in the national debate on so many topics, because we are a democracy. But we are focused, really focused, to bring about change in the region.”
On Dec. 31, Smotrich told Army Radio, “What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration. If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not 2 million Arabs, the entire discussion on the day after will be totally different.”
He added, “Most of Israeli society will say ‘why not, it’s a nice place, let’s make the desert bloom, it doesn’t come at anyone’s expense.'”
In a speech delivered on Jan. 1, Ben-Gvir told his Otzma Yehudit political party that the war offers an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza.”
He added, “We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing.”
Watch the interview with President Herzog in the video above.
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