On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said that if Israel’s strike inside Qatar didn’t hit the Hamas targets they were trying to, “we’ll get them the next time.” And “right now, we may be subject to a little bit of criticism. They’ll get over it.” He also stated that the U.S. and Israel are good friends and “united.”
Host Bret Baier asked, [relevant exchange begins around 2:00] “Qatar officials and Hamas leadership [are] saying that you did not get the targets you were seeking. They are obviously condemning this attack as attacking inside an allied country to the U.S. The U.S. here at the White House, expressing concern that it did not advance the goals of the U.S. or Israel. And you have the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, with very pointed statements and condemnation. So, did you get the targets you were seeing?”
Leiter answered, “If we didn’t get them this time, we’ll get them the next time. Israel, under Prime Minister Netanyahu, is changing the face of the Middle East. We have degraded Hezbollah. We’ve degraded Hamas, the Houthis, and Iran, the head of the snake that’s leading these proxies in an effort to destroy Israel. When we defeat these proxies of Iran, when we defeat Islamic extremism, and, actually, that will benefit our neighbors in the region who are moderate and want to live in a state of peace with us. So, right now, we may be subject to a little bit of criticism. They’ll get over it. And Israel is being changed for the better — the region is being changed for the better, as we remove these enemies of peace and these enemies of Western Civilization from their ability to implement terrorism.”
After Baier read the statement from the White House, Leiter stated, “Well, the spokeswoman for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, addressed that in her deft fashion…we are united. We’ve never had a better friend in the White House than President Trump. And we’re united in the effort of eliminating Hamas as being a threat to peace in the Middle East.”
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