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Former Israeli government spokesperson warns country is in an ‘impossible bind’ in Gaza
After more than a year and a half of war, Israel has found itself in an «impossible dilemma» as it tries to defeat Hamas and bring home the remaining hostages, former Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy says.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Levy said that it is crucial that Hamas not remain in power — and that it is also vital to save the hostages languishing in tunnels under Gaza.
«If this war ends with the Hamas regime that perpetrated October 7th still in power, it won’t end, it will just pause, and the next war will be a matter of time,» Levy said. «Israelis don’t want war. We need this war to be over, but we need this war to be over with the total defeat of the Hamas regime, or else this won’t be the last Gaza war.»
Left: Israeli military vehicles in Gaza. Right: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuters)
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Israel has faced international criticism over its handling of the war in Gaza, with the U.K., France and Canada releasing a joint statement earlier this month demanding that Jerusalem end its military operations in the Gaza Strip. The U.K. also suspended trade talks with Israel because of London’s objections to the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of being «on the wrong side of humanity.»
«I think anyone criticizing Israel needs to come up with a better plan for how you remove Hamas from power, because otherwise they’re just giving it political power and trying to save [it] from the war that it started,» Levy told Fox News Digital.
The international community has been pressuring Israel regarding hostage swaps. Jerusalem has been pressured to free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages taken on Oct. 7. Levy acknowledged that while Israel cannot leave the hostages behind, there are valid concerns about these releases.
«Israel is facing the impossible dilemma because Hamas is demanding the hostage-takers of tomorrow for the hostages of today,» Levy said.
Eylon Levy speaks at the «International Rally – United We Bring Them Home» rally in Hostage Square on May 18th, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Levy also called out the international community, saying that most countries would not «pay ransoms to terrorist hostage-takers.»
«Here’s the absurdity of international pressure on Israel to pay a ransom. Most countries don’t pay ransoms to terrorist hostage takers because they understand it only incentivizes more hostage taking, it rewards it, it encourages more of it,» Levy told Fox News Digital. «Israel has paid a ransom to get hostages out in two cease-fires because we say we know the dangers, we know it’s risky, but we’ve got to get out these poor people who are being starved and tortured and even executed in the dungeons.»
Levy believes Israel «found itself stymied along the way» as countries that initially backed efforts to defeat Hamas «got cold feet very quickly» as they understood what removing the terror group from power would entail.
Looking at the broader picture, Levy wonders if Israel had taken on a different strategy from day one, whether the war would have ended sooner, though he admits it would have meant «defying international pressure.»
Thousands of anti-Israel protestors fill Freedom Plaza and the surrounding streets for rally and march calling for an end to the Israel – Hamas war, in Washington, DC on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. (Rod Lamkey/CNP for Fox News Digital)
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«I do wonder if that had been the strategy from the beginning—defying international pressure—then it’s possible the war might have ended sooner,» Levy said. «But again, Israel is caught in this impossible bind because there are still hostages who are trapped in Gaza, whom Hamas is threatening to execute if the Israeli army gets anywhere near them to try to rescue them.»
This is not a new or empty threat. Several former hostages reported being threatened and said they were told that their captors would execute them if Israeli forces got close. Six other former hostages, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, met this fate when they were fatally shot just before the IDF could reach them.
Not all of Israel’s international counterparts have turned on the Jewish state. America’s approach to Netanyahu shifted as President Donald Trump returned to the White House. While the Biden administration put more pressure on Netanyahu, Trump appears to support Israel doing what it must to end the war.
Levy told Fox News Digital that «Israelis definitely got the impression that the Trump administration has Israel’s back and is willing to endorse any military strategy that it wants to implement, but there are also signs the Trump administration, you know, may want to wrap this up very quickly.»
President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right). (Getty Images / Fox News Digital)
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Since Trump’s return to the Oval Office, dozens of hostages have been freed, including American-Israelis Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Edan Alexander.
Trying to get the hostages out of harm’s way while also taking Hamas out of power seem to be conflicting goals—something Levy acknowledges, saying, «We cannot afford to pay this ransom, but we also can’t afford not to pay it.»
INTERNACIONAL
El golpe fulminante de EE.UU. e Israel para matar al líder supremo de Irán, Ali Khamenei
INTERNACIONAL
Jeb Bush commends former rival Trump’s Iran operation: ‘This is their time to take their country back’
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FIRST ON FOX: A major public policy nonprofit co-led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush praised President Donald Trump for ordering Saturday’s military strikes against Iran.
United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) — was formed in 2008 by Ambassador Mark Wallace, who held a United Nations-centered post in Bush’s brother’s administration, and former George H.W. Bush diplomat Dennis Ross — to combat threats posed by the Islamic Republic.
The group has been on the front lines of highlighting Iran’s human rights abuses and attacks on Americans and advising policymakers and the business community about dangers posed by Tehran.
The organization counsels existing and would-be commercial partners of Iran regarding the legal, financial and reputational risks of that kind of commerce.
«UANI salutes the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members carrying out this historic mission against the Iranian regime,» Bush and Wallace told Fox News Digital Saturday.
Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, left, and Jeb Bush take part in a presidential debate at the Reagan Library Sept. 16, 2015, in Simi Valley, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
«We applaud President Trump for his courageous decision to launch this military operation. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has unleashed terror, violence and misery — against its own people and across the region — while threatening the United States, Israel and our allies.»
Bush, who ran against Trump in a bruising 2016 primary, and Wallace noted that many presidents tried to bring Iran into the «peaceful community of nations» but were not able to finish the job.
«This president engaged extensively and in good faith to achieve a diplomatic solution,» they said after Trump indicated as recently as last week he wanted to negotiate terms.
«The regime chose escalation and continued its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The responsibility for this moment rests squarely with Ayatollah Khamenei.»
Khamenei, 86, was declared dead by Israeli sources by late afternoon.
Bush and Wallace added it was clear the joint American-Israeli operation was directed not at Iran, the country and citizenry, but at Khamenei’s «lethal capabilities.»
The Iranian people, they said, have long suffered under repression and that Trump’s message since the strikes began is one that should be embraced by all Americans: «We aim to see Iran free, prosperous, and at peace. This is their time to take their great country back.»
«The Butcher of Tehran is dead,» Bush and Wallace added in a separate public statement.
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Bush added in a statement on X that «Operation Epic Fury marks a historic mission against the Iranian regime.»
«We salute the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members and commend for his courageous decision,» he added.
Bush’s relationship with Trump has appeared to warm since their bitter feuds of a decade ago.
During the 2016 sweeps, Trump nicknamed the Republican Party scion «Low Energy Jeb,» while Bush quipped that the mogul would not be able to «insult your way to the presidency» after the eventual victor mocked an ad that former first lady Barbara Bush filmed for her son.
While governor, Bush made improving public education a hallmark of his administration in Tallahassee. Bush implemented stricter proficiency standards in elementary education and signed what was dubbed the «A+ plan,» making Florida the first state to require clear letter grades on student performance.
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He recently praised the Trump administration’s overtures toward universal school choice and federal block grants as a «transformational opportunity.»
«The Trump administration has a chance to shift the power dynamic back to the states, where policymakers are uniquely equipped to understand and address the diverse needs of their students, schools, and communities,» he added in a column in Education Week.
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Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin joins ‘America Reports’ to give the latest on the aftermath of the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
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Iran entered a new chapter Saturday after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, abruptly ending more than three decades of authoritarian rule and setting in motion a leadership transition the regime has long prepared.
A senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that while Khamenei’s demise is a «massive blow» to the Islamic Republic, Tehran anticipated the possibility and took steps to withstand such a scenario.
«Mere survival, at this point, would be considered a victory,» the diplomat said of the regime, according to the outlet, following U.S. and Israeli strikes across the country.
A recent report from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) outlined three broad trajectories for a post-Khamenei Iran: managed regime continuity, an overt or creeping military takeover, or systemic collapse.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday. (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via Getty Images)
CFR cautioned that even a leadership change at the top would not necessarily translate into meaningful political reform in the near term, given the regime’s deeply institutionalized power structure and its record of using force to maintain control.
The report notes that the real balance of power rests within a tight circle of clerical elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
It describes a likely «continuity» scenario as producing «Khamenei-ism without Khamenei,» in which a successor from within the regime preserves the ideological framework of the Islamic Republic while relying on established security institutions to preserve stability.
LEAKED DOCUMENTS EXPOSE KHAMENEI’S SECRET DEADLY BLUEPRINT FOR CRUSHING IRAN PROTESTS
«The Islamic Republic’s constitution includes a succession process. The Assembly of Experts, a clerical body, is constitutionally charged with selecting the next supreme leader,» Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital.
«In the interim, should there be a leadership vacancy, an interim leadership council is formed comprised of the president, chief justice, and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Council,» he added. «The IRGC is a key stakeholder in this process, and will heavily influence its outcome.»
Over the past three decades, the Bayt-e Rahbari, or the Office of the Supreme Leader, expanded into what a February report by UANI described as a «sprawling parallel state» operating alongside Iran’s formal institutions.
Large crowds gather at Enghelab Square in Tehran, Sunday, after Iranian state TV announced that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The analysis characterizes the Office as the regime’s «hidden nerve center,» extending control across the military, security establishment and major economic foundations in ways that make the system’s authority institutional rather than dependent on Khamenei’s physical presence.
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«The supreme leader today is no longer just one man; he is represented through an all-encompassing institution that consolidates power, manages succession, and guarantees continuity,» the non-partisan policy organization said. «The Islamic Republic’s most enduring strength lies in this hidden architecture of control, which will continue to shape the country’s future long after Khamenei himself departs from the scene.»
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