Israeli Amb.: ‘This Is our 9/11’ and We Will ‘Change the Equation’ of Gaza as a ‘War Machine’ — ‘Never Again Is Today’

On Saturday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Live,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan said the Hamas attack on Israel that happened on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, the final day of the annual High Holy Day cycle, “is our 9/11” and “we said, since the Holocaust, where Jews were butchered and massacred, never again. And never again is today,” Erdan also argued that when Israel withdrew from Gaza, Hamas turned the Gaza Strip into “a war machine. We cannot allow this situation of Gaza as a war machine to continue. And we are committed, starting from today, to change the equation. We won’t have another 9/11.”

Erdan stated that while he won’t share military plans publicly, “[F]rom now on, we are committed to [using] every means at our disposal to restore our deterrence, and to exact from these animals a heavy price.” And “All options today are on the table. … This is our 9/11. We are committed to [changing] the equation, to shatter the old paradigm. These animals will pay a heavy price. And they will learn that these atrocities cannot be committed again against our civilians.”

He added, “[F]or many years we lived side-by-side with Gaza. We believe that it’s possible, even though, and I hope your viewers know that Hamas is a genocidal, jihadist, Islamist organization that is fully committed only to the annihilation of the State of Israel. They don’t want to compromise. They don’t want a dialogue. They don’t want to see the existence of the Jewish state. So, when we evacuated, when we withdrew from Gaza 17, 18 years ago, they took power. And since then, they use[d], exploit[ed] every square inch in the Gaza Strip. And they turned, basically, the Gaza Strip into a war machine. We cannot allow this situation of Gaza as a war machine to continue. And we are committed, starting from today, to change the equation. We won’t have another 9/11. And as we said, since the Holocaust, where Jews were butchered and massacred, never again. And never again is today, Eric, for us.”

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