Billboard displayed near Prime Minister Bennett’s home, June 17, 2021. |
Israeli NGO Israel Victory Project posted a billboard outside prime minister Naftali Bennett’s house reminding him of his promise to “eliminate Hamas.”
The Middle East Forum, an American-based think tank, helped put up the billboard. They also posted a video on social media with quotes from Bennett regarding Hamas. Some of these quotes include: “Hamas must understand that it will pay a massive price for any harm to Israeli citizens,” “The State of Israel must not give in to Hamas’ protectionist threats,” and “I will deal with Hamas.”
“We congratulate prime minister Naftali Bennett on his inauguration, and at the same time want to make it clear that the most important issue on the agenda should be to address restoring security for the citizens of Israel, and eliminating Hamas,” said Gregg Roman, Director of the Middle East Forum.
During the most recent escalations between Israel and Hamas in May, Bennett told former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “the government should not end the current round in the Gaza Strip until Hamas pays a heavy price.” The two sides reached a ceasefire on May 21.
Bennett also criticized Likud’s handling of internal conflicts in mixed Jewish-Arab towns during the recent round of violence.
“The Likud went from being a ruling party to a party that is failing to run the country and is leading us negligently from blunder to disaster,” he said. “Yamina will give full support to any step to restore security without regard to politics: this is the time to unite and win.”
The Israel Victory Project is a coalition of bereaved families, residents of southern Israel, IDF veterans and reservists, and others who seek policy change in order to achieve an “Israeli victory” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In their social media video they demanded that the newly formed government bring back captives without any conditions and demilitarize Hamas.
Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.
