Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the situation in Syria at a press conference he held on Monday after the fall of the Assad regime, insisting that the collapse of the Syrian regime was “a direct result of the severe blows with which we have struck Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.”
“I would like to make it clear: additional challenges yet await us in the campaign and we are still active. Since the horrifying terrorist assault of October 7, we have been working methodically, prudently, and in an orderly manner to dismantle the axis of evil. This did not happen on its own, nor was it luck.”
But what delighted many right-wing viewers, and upset the left during the press conference, was Netanyahu’s clash with News12 reporter Yollan Cohen and Kan11 reporter Michael Shemesh.
Netanyahu went on the attack (watch the full event with a running translation): “You keep spreading lies that there was a hostage deal and I stopped it. You spread this lie every day and you harm the families. It’s hard for you to hear the truth. You hear the truth, but you don’t spread it.”
He added: “I ask you a question because you keep spreading these lies, that there was a deal and I blocked it, and political opponents from within the cabinet and so on are spreading it. Recently, US top officials – Biden, Blinken, Sullivan, spoke, and what did they say? There was no deal and those who blocked the deal were Hamas and only Hamas. Now I want to tell you, maybe you don’t know that all these people are not exactly Likud supporters or BIBists, but they are telling the truth, and you spread this lie every day.”
When asked why no reporter gets a follow-up question other than the one representing the right-wing Channel 14, Netanyahu joked, “He gets a Baksheesh (tip) because he came out first in the lottery.”
Israel’s Journalists’ Union showed once again that they prefer dishing out to receiving, protesting humorlessly: “We support and back journalists Yollan Cohen and Michael Shemesh who are doing their jobs. The media’s role is to ask the prime minister, every prime minister, tough questions. Baksheesh? We prefer answers and respectful treatment of the watchdogs of democracy.”
Cohen did not take Netanyahu’s rebuke sitting down. An entitled media operative, She interrupted the prime minister’s answer and kept hollering about the trampling of her rights, to the point where she was escorted out of the hall.
Netanyahu was asked about his testimony in his trial which will start on Tuesday. He responded:
“I heard in the media that I want to evade the trial. I want to evade? What nonsense. I’ve been waiting for this day for eight years. I’ve been waiting for the truth to be presented, waiting to finally explode the delusional and unfounded accusations that were directed against me, waiting to expose the method of the hunting expedition.
“Look how the method works. There are dozens of people whose lives are systematically ruined, they are blackmailed with threats, they are in solitary confinement, and they suffer from sleep deprivation – all so that they will give false testimony. They are threatened that they will not have a livelihood, they will not have a future, a series of intimidation and threats.
“This method is not only in my investigations – so after all this, I shouldn’t want to speak? I’ll speak tomorrow! I’m not asking for and have not asked for privileges, but I expect that I won’t have any negative privileges. It’s very unusual to testify three times a week. It’s possible to balance the needs of the state and the trial.”
See also: Court Gives Netanyahu Time Off to Greet Paraguayan President But Not to Conduct the War.
