BLINDED BY RAGE
Taoiseach: Netanyahu not listening to any country
LEO Varadkar has said that Israel has become “blinded by rage” and is not even listening to the advice of its close ally the United States anymore.
The Taoiseach was answering questions in the Dail about the number of Palestinians that have been forced to crowd into Rafah, which was targeted in a recent Israeli military operation.
Irish Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said people had been killed or “brutally displaced”, and that there was “nowhere left” for Palestinian citizens to go.
“We’re witnessing Armageddon,” she told parliamentarians.
She said that as long as Ireland delays taking “meaningful steps”, then “our complicity in what is happening there is being prolonged”.
“It’s not good enough to say ‘wait a little longer’,” she said, adding that they need to move to end trade with occupied territories.
Mr Varadkar said he shared her distress and there was “a serious risk of a massacre occurring” in Rafah if there was a ground assault, which he said would be a “gross violation of international law on top of all the other violations of international law which Israel is responsible for”.
He said that both Hamas and Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, should accept the three-month ceasefire proposal brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the US.
He added: “We do all need to be realistic... It’s very very clear to me though, that Israel is not listening to any country in the world, I don’t even think they’re listening to the Americans anymore. They have become blinded by rage.
“They are going to make the situation I believe much worse for their own security in the long-term by going down the path that they’re going.”
While he said Ireland would continue to take action in response to Israel’s campaign in Gaza, he believes there was a need to be “honest about the situation that we see unfolding”. Mr Varadkar added: “We will take action, we have taken action, we’ll even take more action, but it’s very clear to me that Israel doesn’t listen to us, doesn’t listen to the world, probably doesn’t even listen to the Americans anymore. And that’s what makes the situation all the more dangerous and all the more worrying.”
They’re going to make their security much worse in long term LEO VARADKAR YESTERDAY