Michael Leiter, Israeli ambassador to the U.S., told Newsmax on Thursday that it’s “a sham and a shame” for Western leaders to commit to recognizing a Palestinian state if Israel does not meet certain conditions to end the war in Gaza.
“It’s quite disappointing that these icons, these pillars of moral leadership in the West, would take a decision so utterly ridiculous,” Leiter said on “The Record With Greta Van Susteren.” “First of all, there’s no practical application of that. I mean, how do you just create a state unilaterally? Who’s going to run it? They talked about elections without Hamas. Well, that’s pretty funny. We’ve been there. Hamas actually came to power through elections.
“But, on a deeper level, this is really morally depraved, and they should be ashamed of themselves because we have hostages in tunnels being held by Hamas and every time Hamas gets the wind at their back from these leaders, they actually make their position in negotiation over the hostages more difficult,” he said. “They become more recalcitrant and less willing to make any compromise. So really, what the leaders of these countries have done has committed the hostages to spend longer time in these dungeons held by Hamas. And it’s just really a sham and a shame.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have all announced plans for their countries to recognize a Palestinian state in September if the Israeli government does not take “substantive steps” to end the war in Gaza, including committing to a long-term peace process that results in a two-state solution.
Leiter said that Israel is “committed to destroying Hamas and seeing to it that they do not remain in power in Gaza” because the terror group has said they will carry out another Oct. 7-style attack on the Jewish state “if they have the opportunity.”
“That’s the real endgame here – that Hamas is defeated, this evil is defeated, this Iranian proxy is defeated and no longer do we live with jihadis at our border,” Leiter said. “Look, I understand that Emmanuel Macron has to live with 12% of his electorate that likes this kind of idea. He can live with them, but we can’t live with jihadis at our border.
“The same thing with Keir Starmer and with the Prime Minister of Canada,” he said. “We understand they have political problems, but don’t take it out on us and don’t endanger the state of Israel because you’ve got a political issue. It is absolutely reprehensible, despicable, that they would do such a thing while we still have hostages being held by Hamas. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
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