Israeli Spox on Harris Criticism: We’re Worried About Eliminating Hamas, We’re Doing What U.S. Would Do

On Monday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” Israeli Government Spokesman Eylon Levy reacted to criticisms from Israel by Vice President Kamala Harris and polling about American support for Israel by stating that “We are concerned that there are 134 hostages still being abused in the Hamas terror dungeons and that Hamas is still fighting and threatening to perpetrate the 10/7 attacks again and again.” And Israeli allies “need to understand that we are doing exactly what they would do if such horrific atrocities were perpetrated against them.”

Host Elizabeth Vargas asked, “Today, the Vice President met with Benny Gantz, who is not only in the War Cabinet, but is a political rival to Benjamin Netanyahu, and it comes as she’s calling for a ceasefire in Gaza immediately, which is further than President Biden has gone. This is all happening — she calls, by the way, what’s happening in Gaza a ‘humanitarian catastrophe,‘ a new Wall Street Journal poll also shows that Israel is losing support among the American people, that the most people so far right now…now say that Israel has gone too far. And around the world, the numbers are often worse. Are you concerned that you are losing support, not only from the world, but from your greatest ally, the United States?”

Levy responded, “We are concerned that there are 134 hostages still being abused in the Hamas terror dungeons and that Hamas is still fighting and threatening to perpetrate the 10/7 attacks again and again. And so, we’re going to do everything we can in order to bring back the hostages, bring Hamas to justice, and fight to do that with the support of our allies that need to understand that we are doing exactly what they would do if such horrific atrocities were perpetrated against them. Of course, we want to do this with support from our allies. It’s important. It’s why I’m here on TV making the case to the American people. But what we are worried about is the prospect of leaving Hamas on its feet after 10/7. That will not happen. This war will end with the dismantling of Hamas and a release of the hostages, that’s the only possible response to the atrocities of 10/7.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett