Netanyahu: Mashal made it clear Hamas was committed to fighting Israel
Prime minister addresses Abbas condemnation of kidnapping for the first time, saying if the PA president really means them, he is obligated to end his pact with Hamas.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, who praised the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens, has shown once again that Hamas is committed to fighting Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.
"Last night we heard Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas, praise and defend the brutal kidnapping of the three innocent Israeli teenagers who were making their way home from school. Mashal once again made clear that Hamas remains committed to its war against Israel and its war against every Israeli citizen, and coincidently, against every Jew around the world," Netanyahu said during a meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta.
"So, how can President Abbas make an alliance with these terrorists who extoll kidnapping?" he added.
On Monday, Mashal insisted Hamas had no information on the kidnapping of Eyal Yifrach, Gil-Ad Shaer and Naftali Frenkel, but noted that "if there will be confirmation that a Palestinian group is behind the kidnapping – we should applaud and take off our hats to them."
In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Mashal said that he "blesses the hands of those who kidnapped them, since the Palestinian prisoners should be released from the Israeli prisons."
The prime minister also addressed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' condemnation of the kidnapping for the first time.
"Those who carried out the kidnapping want to destroy us," Abbas said last week.
"The three teens are human beings like us and they should be returned to their families," he said, adding that "It is in our interest to have security coordination with Israel because that would help protect us."
"I appreciate what President Abbas said a few days ago in Saudi Arabia, rejecting the kidnapping. I think these were important words. Now, if he really means what he said about the kidnapping, and if he is truly committed to peace and to fighting terrorism, then logic and common sense mandate that he break his pact with Hamas. This is the only way that we can move forward," Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
