In his first major international address, Monday, former IDF Chief of Staff and Benjamin Netanyahu's top competitor for the Israeli premiership Benny Gantz told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington, that his vision for a secure Jewish state relies on unity and safety for all Jews around the world, cautioning Israel's enemies against provocation but welcoming dialogue from those committed to peace.
Gantz used the platform to address the security situation on the border with the Gaza Strip after a rocket launched from the Palestinian enclave struck a home in central Israel, injuring seven people.
Addressing Gaza's Hamas government, which Israel holds responsible for all acts of aggression emanating from the territory, Gantz threatened their leadership with a "personal reminder" of the past Israeli policy of targeted killings if attacks on the Jewish state continue.
Speaking to i24NEWS correspondent Michelle Makori on the sidelines of the event, Gantz said that Israel needed to take a firm stance in response to rockets fired from Gaza.
"There needs to be massive retaliation to restore the deterrence that we had after [2014's] Operation Protective Edge," Gantz said.
"We cannot accept whatsoever any attack from the Gaza Strip, whether it is on the southern communities or on central Israel."
"We have to retaliate firmly," he said. "We are far stronger than Hamas. They know it, and they will feel it now."
EXCLUSIVE: @MichelleMakori's interview with @gantzbe at #AIPAC2019 on #Gaza and tensions with #Hamas: pic.twitter.com/JbfK085MyX
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) 25 במרץ 2019
'The mission is not over'
Gantz told the crowd at AIPAC that Netanyahu, who canceled his expected appearance at the confab in order to return to Israel to oversee its response to the rocket attack, made the right decision, and that he too would return to Israel later that day.
"We will never withdraw from the Golan Heights," Gantz said. "Jerusalem will always be Israel's undivided capital, and the Jordan Valley will always be our eastern security border."
'This hate, fueling a century of armed conflict, may be the only things our enemy enhances — because this hate, this misery is all they live for. Our people live for hope,' says #IsraElections2019 candidate @gantzbe: #AIPAC2019 pic.twitter.com/3cdmfPp89h
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) 25 במרץ 2019
Many U.S. Jews have been at loggerheads with the Netanyahu government in recent years over issues such egalitarian prayer at Jerusalem's Western Wall and a previously proposed law that would not recognize conversions performed outside the Chief Rabbinate's authority.
Gantz, likely trying to present himself as more accommodating to the largely Reform and Conservative population of U.S. Jews, said Jerusalem's "Western Wall is long enough to accommodate everyone."
"If one Jew anywhere in the world is not safe," Gantz said, "the mission is not over."
"Because we are Jewish, we will not stand idly by. We will not tolerate racism. We will not tolerate anti-Semitism." For this remark, he received a standing ovation.
Turning to Iran, just a week after Israeli media reported Tehran had hacked Gantz's phone and obtained sensitive information, the prime ministerial hopeful said: "You know me not only from my cell phone. On my watch, you will not become a military power. I will not hesitate to use force if and when it is needed."
He added, "Never again will we allow you to establish yourself in Syria. We will not allow you to develop nuclear weapons."
Netanyahu has criticized Gantz for allowing Iran to hack his phone, strongly denying any allegations claiming he was involved in leaking the hack to the press and claiming that Iran supports Gantz for prime minister.
Gantz's address comes on the second day of the pro-Israel lobby's annual policy conference, which brings together a crowd of some 18,000 participants and hundreds of international officials for three days of discussions and debates on advancing the U.S.-Israel relationship.
'Those that seek life are always stronger than those seeking death and I am telling you leaders of #Hamas: you will not change that,' says #IsraElections2019 candidate @gantzbe: #AIPAC2019 pic.twitter.com/ovbDmgas3r
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) 25 במרץ 2019
Also addressing the conference Monday was U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. envoy to the U.N. Nikki Haley, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as well as top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Speakers on Tuesday were set to include U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
While support for Israel in U.S. politics has historically always been bipartisan, a new wave of young progressive Democrats vocally critical of Israel's policies has raised concern of a growing divide in support for the Jewish state.
Speaking at the opening of the conference on Sunday, AIPAC CEO Howard Kohr hit back at critics of the powerful lobby, accusing them of seeking to isolate Israel on the international stage.
The influence of the powerful pro-Israel lobby became a matter of debate in the U.S. last month after freshman Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar – one of only two Muslim women in Congress – insinuated money is the reason U.S. lawmakers support Israel.
Those remarks, along with later comments in which Omar suggested pro-Israel activists and lawmakers have "allegiance to a foreign country," were widely condemned as playing into anti-Semitic tropes and sparked acrimonious debate about the rhetoric employed in criticizing Israel policy.
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