Netanyahu: Heeding ceasefire calls is tantamount to surrender

‘Israel did not start this war. Israel did not want this war. But Israel will win this war.’

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said growing calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender. Hours later, the Biden administration said it also rejected the notion of a ceasefire.

“Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities after the horrific attacks of October 7,” Netanyahu said in English-language comments to the foreign press. “Calls for a ceasefire are a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terror, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen. Ladies and gentlemen, the Bible says that there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war.”

According to Netanyahu, no one would have called on the US to agree to a ceasefire following the Pearl Harbor attack during World War II.

“The horrors that Hamas perpetrated on October 7 remind us that we will not realize the promise of a better future unless we, the civilized world, are willing to fight the barbarians. Because the barbarians are ready to fight us… and usher in a world of fear and darkness,” said Netanyahu.

Later on Monday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby echoed Netanyahu’s statements, saying, “We do not believe that a ceasefire is the right answer right now.”

“We do not support a ceasefire at this time,” he said, adding that “pauses” for humanitarian aid should be considered.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired Conservative MP Paul Bristow, who served as Technology Secretary, for calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu reflected on the war as “a turning point — for leaders and for nations.”

“It is time for all of us to decide if we are willing to fight for a future of hope and promise or surrender to tyranny and terror,” he said.

“Israel did not start this war. Israel did not want this war. But Israel will win this war.”

He called the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas “the worst savagery our people have seen since the Holocaust. Hamas murdered children in front of their parents, murdered parents in front of their children. They burned people alive, they raped women, they beheaded men, they tortured Holocaust survivors, they kidnapped babies.”

“In fighting Hamas and the Iranian axis of terror, Israel is fighting the enemies of civilization itself.”

He called on the world to gain some moral clarity.

“It begins with knowing the difference between good and evil, between right and wrong… It means making a moral distinction between the deliberate murder of the innocent and the unintentional casualties that accompany every legitimate war.”

He slammed the international community for blaming Israel on Hamas’s use of Palestinian human shields, saying that doing so means that the terror group will continue to use it as a “tool of terror.”

“Hamas will continue to use the basements in Gaza’s hospitals as the command posts of its vast terror tunnel network. It will continue to use mosques as fortified military positions and weapon depots. It will continue to steal fuel and humanitarian assistance from UN facilities.”

“While Israel is doing everything to get Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way, Hamas is doing everything to keep Palestinian civilians in harm’s way,” he stated.

“Israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until victory. I hope and pray that civilized nations everywhere will back this fight,” he said. “Because Israel’s fight is your fight; because if Hamas and Iran’s axis of evil win, you will be their next target. That’s why Israel’s victory will be your victory,” he added.

“Regardless of who stands with Israel, Israel will fight until this battle is won. And Israel will prevail.”

Benjamin NetanyahuHamasIsraeli captives in Gaza