How Netanyahu’s rival would end Israel’s war in Gaza

You're going to have an election this

year and you are now formally running.

In fact, many people think you're the

leading opposition candidate. Tell me

what's at stake in this election.

>> There's never been such a crucial

election for the future of the Jewish

state. Um, it's about whether we go

continue down the path of chaos,

tribalism, and internal fighting, uh,

and and weakening Israel, or we go

through a Israeli renaissance and

revitalize Israel, unite Israel.

>> So, this sounds as though it's about

much more than policies.

>> My opponent will try and position this

as right versus left. It's not about

right versus left. I'm a right-wing guy

in my positions, even stronger than BB.

It's about do we want to fight ourselves

to death or unite and fix the country

because right now the direction is

horrible. Just all day internal

tribalism and fighting between and

religious and secular and right and

left. But the truth is that if you look

at policies, the differences in public

are tiny. So most of this hate is

fabricated artificial hate.

>> Is it therefore your your main position

that you are not Min Netanyahu? Is that

your is that what you're bringing to

this election?

>> What I'm bringing to this election is to

be a unifier and to fix Israel. To fix

Israel Israel is broken. The Israeli

people are wounded. We need to heal

Israel. It's a time for healing and uh

unity. and the current direction is just

spreading uh hate and internal fighting

between us.

>> One of the other arguments that Prime

Minister Netanyahu is making and will

make is that he's the only person who

can keep Israel secure. That's been the

light motif in his telling of his entire

career

>> like October 7th.

>> Well, I was I was going to go on to ask

you that. I mean, do you think that is

by itself a reason why he cannot stay

prime minister?

>> I think the right thing for Israel is

for him to move on uh in a respectful

manner. you know, I I respect him. He

has his rights. Um, but October 7th is

the single biggest uh strategic

defense security failure in Israel's

history by far. 1,200 of your citizens

were slaughtered.

You had been allowing uh Qatar to funnel

money in to build Hamas for for a

decade.

So, who's responsible for it?

A a prime minister is at the the top of

a of the pyramid and a prime minister

holds full responsibility.

>> As you say, this was a act, a heinous

act committed by Hamas. The world should

have been on Israel's side. It should

have remained on Israel's side, but it

hasn't. What went wrong?

>> To be fair, I fully back uh the the war

on Hamas. Uh and I'm not going to second

guess this action or that action. I

fully back the fact that we had to fight

back and we still need to annihilate

Hamas. Hamas is still up and up and

living. Uh kamas cannot exist in Gaza if

we want a future there. So we had to do

that. Um then we we also have um folks

around the world who automatically are

against Israel because the the first

demonstrations against Israel started on

October 7th in the evening before we

started the war. So they they were ready

with their packages of uh from the river

to the sea. They didn't make that up on

the spot.

>> Let's assume you're prime minister. How

do you change that international

perception of Israel?

>> We need to fix Israel from within. It

can't all be political cronyism. We need

good leadership. I I can tell you in in

my first two weeks, I would fly out and

meet President Cece and meet MBZ and

meet Abdullah and meet Bahrain and and

and reach out to our neighbors. Um uh we

have to remain very strong and tough and

realize that that that's the

environment. My message would be Israel

is open again for business. It's a new

start for Israel. I understand that but

Gaza is broken too.

>> Yes.

>> Um how can is well can Israel thrive if

there's sort of Mogad issue on on the

med?

>> No.

>> So how do you how do you get some sort

of renewal inside

>> there? I I believe there's a sequence

and it has to happen by the sequence. It

can't happen in parallel. The sequence

is we have to defeat kamas because as

long as kamas is there it's it's poison

ground. You can't you can't grow trees,

healthy trees in a poison ground.

There's no way around it. The notion of

bypassing that and rebuilding Gaza while

Hamas is is still there will not work.

And in that sense, I'm I'm even uh more

hawkish than Netanyahu. But at the same

time, I would start uh the the uh work

of of framing and and forming that next

that Gaza 2.0 O say what you want to do

and I I know what I want to do. I want a

thriving Gaza but with full security uh

for good.

>> But what does actually I want to defeat

Hamas mean? I mean that's precisely what

Prime Minister Netanyahu would say. What

would you do differently?

>> Here's what I would do. Here's what I

would do. Um I would set a vision of

Gaza 2.0. Okay. I would set a certain

area that is clean of Hamas. Then I

would say folks, is anyone volunteering

to clean up Hamas?

No one will. All right. And I'd say,

"So, we're going to do it." I would say,

"This will take uh a finite time." I

would uh then systematically uh um

isolate areas of Gaza and a groin area.

Say anyone who's kamas get out and then

apply siege on a kamas only area. This

is all according to to law. And smoke

him out. Once it's clean, I would

retrieve the the citizens there. Isn't

that me starting the war?

>> Well, look, uh uh I I I didn't run this

war. I think uh it shouldn't have taken

two years. I what I just said is what I

think we should have done to begin with.

So, is everything being handled well in

Israel? No. I I there there's also

something called competence. But on the

righteousness of the war, is it a just

war? Yes, it is. Uh and and there's no

daylight between me and anyone on that.

But when you divide a country from

within and expect everything to work

well, it's not going to happen. So our

biggest problems, I know that globally

everyone talks about Gaza and the

Palestinians. Israel's biggest challenge

is from within. It's always been in

Jewish history our biggest challenge.

>> You say that you would go and see NBS,

you would go and see President Cece,

you'd go and see other leaders

throughout the Arab world. For many of

them, particularly for NBS in Saudi

Arabia, a clear and credible pathway to

a Palestinian state is a sinuanon for

progress. Where what would you say to

him when he he says that's what I need?

>> Well, first of all, I won't commit

suicide to plate any friend of ours,

even if it's a friend. And and I believe

a Palestinian state is Israeli suicide.

Okay? And by the way, an overwhelming

majority of Israelis now believe that.

So first I I you when when you're a

leader of a country you have to be very

clear with yourself what are your basic

positions. Then I would tell Cece look

this ain't going to happen but there's

so much we can do including with the

Palestinians to reduce the friction to

increase their uh quality of lives uh uh

dignity freedom of movement etc. So I

what I would do is what I always do.

Take it to a pragmatic level and start

fixing.