Destroying Hamas is not a matter of if, but when, and Israel’s allies know this is the case, Israeli Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Gila Gamliel told JNS on Thursday.
“All our friends know it, even the United States, and there is no other choice when dealing with a terror group whose goal is to eliminate Israel,” Gamliel said on the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Hungary 2024.
Israel’s War Cabinet met on Thursday afternoon to discuss the IDF’s pending operation in Gaza’s Rafah city, where four of Hamas’s six remaining battalions are entrenched.
The city along the Egyptian border is also where Jerusalem believes that the terrorist group is keeping most of the 133 remaining hostages.
“After what Hamas did on Oct. 7 against the Jewish people, against civilians who were dancing at a party or others in their home enjoying the [Simchat Torah] holiday, it’s impossible to allow the terror organization to exist, and more so on our borders,” said Gamliel, who is a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party.
“We will do everything to destroy them as soon as possible,” she added.
World leaders, decision-makers and influencers have converged on Budapest to participate in the conference hosted by the Center for Fundamental Rights.
Then-Intelligence Minister Gamliel told JNS in an interview earlier this year that Iran is the underlying cause of the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the other conflicts engulfing the region.
“Iran is the big story. Iran has made all these terror proxies to use not only against Israel but throughout the Middle East,” reiterated Gamliel on Thursday.
“This is why the day will come when we need to deal with it directly and destroy Iran, for what they are doing against Israel and all the others,” she added.
Gamliel also took the United Nations to task for failing to adequately condemn the sexual crimes committed by Hamas on Oct. 7.
“Are Jewish women not recognized when they are raped, beheaded, torched and kidnapped?” she asked on Thursday. “I see some world leaders, I am ashamed of them. It’s not about being Jews, Muslims or Christians, it is about humanity.
“What do you think these raped women in Israel feel. U.N. women should stand by women all over the world based on principles, but those principles clearly don’t apply when it comes to Jewish women,” said Gamliel.
Also attending CPAC are Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli (Likud), Knesset member Amit Halevi (Likud) and MK Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism).
Tal told JNS on Thursday that the Biden administration is not providing Israel with sufficient support in its war against Hamas, which is one of the reasons Iran decided to attack the Jewish state directly.
“When the first thing President [Joe] Biden does after Iran’s unprecedented attack against Israel is to call Prime Minister Netanyahu and tell him America will not support a response, that’s not supporting us,” said Tal.