Iddo Netanyahu: I Don't Understand Why Some People Oppose a Very Clean War Led by Trump

Iddo Netanyahu, a writer and the brother of Israel's Prime Minister, offered a robust defense of Israel's military operations in Gaza during an interview with Večernji List. Speaking from Zagreb, where his book was being promoted, Netanyahu framed the conflict as a necessary act of self-defense against Hamas, whom he described as "savages" responsible for brutal attacks on Israeli civilians. He directly addressed criticisms, including potential International Criminal Court actions against his brother, by questioning how one could conduct urban warfare in densely populated areas like Gaza without civilian casualties, especially when Hamas allegedly embeds itself within civilian infrastructure.

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Israel had absolutely no choice. We knew that Iran would eventually create a bomb, that they have a huge ballistic missile program...

Netanyahu drew parallels to urban warfare in Iraq, citing military experts to argue that Israel's civilian casualty rate is comparatively low. He also touched upon the issue of free speech, recounting an experience at the University of Zagreb where a student protested his lecture on Zionism and Israel. He lamented what he termed "cancel culture," asserting that freedom of speech is a cornerstone of Western society. This perspective, presented in a Croatian publication, highlights the Israeli government's narrative and its efforts to counter international criticism by emphasizing self-defense and the complexities of fighting an enemy embedded within civilian populations.

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The first task of any government is to protect its own citizens. And we were attacked. Our citizens were massacred en masse. They were kidnapped, women were raped, parts of their bodies were cut off by these savages who attacked us.

From an Israeli perspective, as conveyed through Iddo Netanyahu's statements, the actions in Gaza are not a matter of choice but a grim necessity to protect citizens from an existential threat. The narrative presented is one of a nation under siege, forced to respond to unprovoked aggression with overwhelming force. The emphasis on Hamas's brutality, including the atrocities of October 7th, serves to justify the military campaign and garner international understanding, or at least sympathy. The interview, by giving a platform to the Prime Minister's brother, amplifies this official viewpoint within the European media landscape, aiming to shape perceptions beyond the often critical Western press.

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If the critics in The Hague have a way to show us how to engage in urban warfare in one of the most densely populated areas in the world, in which Hamas has built its tunnels under kindergartens, under mosques... Their main base was under the main hospital in a densely populated area, in which Hamas terrorists deliberately hide with the civilian population. If the critics in The Hague know, if they have a special trick on how to wage this war against Hamas without killing civilians, I would like them to tell me about it.