Netanyahu to US: Don’t ‘Second Guess Me Again’ on Hamas

Entire Netanyahu Narrative Surrounding Ceasefire Proven False

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned US Ambassador Dan Shapiro after yesterday’s Gaza ceasefire crumbled just 90 minutes in, lashing the US policy and warning them to not “ever second guess me again on Hamas.” He went on to insist the US should just trust him to handle things.

Yet another day and a half has underscored exactly how much second-guessing Netanyahu should warrant, as his entire premise and narrative since the collapse of the ceasefire has been proven flat false.

The first notion is that Hamas violated the ceasefire, when in fact the ceasefire terms explicitly did not give Israel any permission to attack tunnels, and the “violation” was actually Hamas fighters inside a tunnel responding to an Israeli attack.

Beyond that is the Netanyahu government’s claim was that Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier, justifying a further escalation. By today, this too was false, and Israel conceded that the soldier was actually already dead.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.