On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to criticism that there really isn’t a ceasefire with terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas that want to destroy Israel and will keep trying to do so by arguing that “the alternative, potentially a full-blown war, is going to be bad for everyone involved, and it’s not going to achieve the objective of getting people home.”
Co-host Willie Geist asked, “What do you say, Mr. Secretary — and I know you’ve heard this directly — to Israelis who say there is no such thing as a ceasefire with a terrorist group, whether it be Hamas or Hezbollah, they’re going to continue to do what they do, it’s in their charters to destroy Israel, their goal is to wipe Israel off the map, ultimately? So, what is the argument to the Israelis that a 21-day break might actually lead to some kind of a peace?”
Blinken responded, “Well, I think the argument is that the alternative, potentially a full-blown war, is going to be bad for everyone involved, and it’s not going to achieve the objective of getting people home. Israel was in Lebanon for a long time, up to 2000, 15 years, bogged down there. And yes, when they got out, all of these groups were supposed to disarm. Hezbollah didn’t, and it has posed a threat to Israel ever since. But if we can get an agreement that at least gets them off the border, people will have more confidence, and they can get about their lives in their own country. I think what you’re hearing, clearly, is, the world wants to see it move in that direction.”
He continued, “The other thing is, look, if you’re looking at what Israel’s biggest adversary, and one of ours — Iran — wants, it wants to try to bog down Israel in wars of attrition, whether that’s in the north in Lebanon, whether that’s in Gaza, whether that’s anywhere else in the region. So, don’t play into that. The objective can be achieved — getting people home — without going to war.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett