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Netanyahu: Islamic Jihad clash with Israel was an Iranian attack on US

PIJ is a “wholly owned subsidiary of Tehran” that’s beholden to the Iranian regime, Netanyahu said in a Fox News interview.

By World Israel News Staff

Former prime minister and current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said that the three-day clash between Gaza-based terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Israel was essentially an attack on U.S. interests launched by an Iranian proxy.

Speaking to Fox News on Sunday evening, Netanyahu charged that PIJ is a “wholly owned subsidiary of Tehran” that’s beholden to the Iranian regime.

“It’s a test of will, and our will is stronger, and we’re going to beat these terrorists,” he said.

Former deputy commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, echoed Netanyahu’s statements about Iran controlling PIJ during a Fox News interview.

Avivi said there is “more than a slight possibility that Iran ordered [PIJ attacks] or it was supported by Iran,” adding that “it was no accident that the [rocket attacks]] happened as the secretary-general of PIJ, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, was meeting with [Iranian President] Raisi in Iran.”

He said that he sees a connection between aggressive statements made by the Iran-controlled, Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group, as they threaten to attack Israel over a maritime gas mining dispute, and the recent clash with PIJ.

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“This is an indication of Iran’s regional tentacles and how dangerous they are and how they can destabilize the area,” Avivi said. “Israel needs to remain strong and resolute to deter Iran’s advances.”

Former British army colonel Richard Kemp backed up the Israelis in a statement to Fox News, saying it was absurd that the West is still attempting to reach a nuclear deal with Tehran as the Islamic Republic supports terror around the globe.

“As the nuclear negotiations were going on in Vienna, PIJ’s leader was meeting with the Iranian president, the head of the IRGC and others in Tehran, taking orders for terrorist attacks against Israel,” he said.

“PIJ is an Iranian proxy and is funded by Iran to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Instead of discussing sanctions relief and normalization with Iran, the West should be doing everything it can to cut off the cash flow to all its terrorist proxies.”