CNN’s Dana Bash did not let up when interviewing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his political future on Sunday.
Bash confronted Netanyahu with Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) call for new Israeli elections to replace the Israeli leader “once the war starts to wind down.”
“Chuck Schumer gave the big speech, but he has support, in many ways, from the president of the United States,” Bash said. “President Biden is a self-described Zionist. Even he is starting to distance himself from the way you are handling the war. He called what Schumer said ‘a good speech.’ He said that he shared the concern of many Americans. They aren’t criticizing Israel, they’re criticizing you and your right-wing coalition.”
Netanyahu responded, “Dana, there’s a fallacy that is being perpetrated here. And you should take polls. You have your own polls, and check whether the people of Israel support the policies that I’m being criticized for.”
He continued:
That is, supporting the policies of going into Rafah, destroy the quarter of the remaining Hamas terrorist army. That’s like leaving a quarter of the Nazi terrorist army in Germany and saying, ‘No, we’re not going to finish the last quarter, and we’re not going into Berlin.’ Most Israelis overwhelmingly support the position that we have to go in. They oppose the idea of ramming down a two-state solution or a terrorist state against their will because they think that this will endanger Israel’s future. They support those policies that I’m putting forward and to present that as something that is, ‘I’m an outlier,’ it doesn’t represent the majority of the people of Israel is simply a fallacy.
“Will you commit to calling new elections once the war winds down?” Bash asked. “That’s my question. Will you?”
The prime minister deflected, saying, “we’ll see when we win the war.”
Bash tried again, asking Netanyahu twice more, “will you commit to new elections.” Netanyahu replied, “That’s for the Israeli people to decide.”
Netanyahu also claimed that “85 percent of the Palestinians do support, unfortunately, the Hamas massacre.” He continued that, “The majority of Israelis support the way I’m prosecuting the war, which is what I’m being criticized for.”
Bash tried several times to interject, finally getting out, “Well, I think that what you’re being criticized for is not prosecuting the war, it’s the way you’re prosecuting the war.”
Watch the clip above via CNN.
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