Amb. Dennis Ross joined Brian Kilmeade to discuss the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas’ Political Bureau and if Israel-Hamas War will now escalate further. Ross believes that the odds of a hostage deal anytime soon are just going down around Hezbollah, and Hamas will not want to look like they’re responding to Israeli pressure, so they will not do a deal right away, which is bad news for the hostages and for the hostage families. Ross adds that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to target Beirut was to demonstrate that they can find anyone, anywhere, at anytime, which no other entity only that region has the capability of doing.
Ross also disagrees with the notion that Vice President Harris’ response to her meeting with Netanyahu will make a cease fire deal between Israel and Hamas more difficult, but it is important to not paint the image of a bridge between the United States and Israel. Ross said, “If we want Israeli deterrence to be strong enough, weaker, we also want to be able to demonstrate that there is no gap between the United States and Israel when it comes to what are the basic requirements for bringing this to an end? One of the basic requirements for Israeli deterrence.”
On the topic of a Palestinian state, Ross emphasizes that while Palestinians do have rights they also have responsibilities, and they have to be held accountable. Ross explained, “When I hear people talk about Palestine State, that’s fine. But you can’t just talk about a Palestinian state as if the Palestinians have no responsibilities that they have to meet in. And to begin with, how do you know the Palestinian state will not be dominated by Hamas unless we have Palestinians out there condemning Hamas? How do you know they won’t be a member of the axis of resistance unless it becomes clear a condition for them in the street? How do we know that they won’t continue to believe in armed resistance, unless they have to denounce Hamas and make it clear that they denounce resistance? In other words, how are things as a people should be recognized as having a right to self-determination? But self-determination cannot be fulfilled unless they are also going to demonstrate in advance that they will meet their responsibilities.”
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