- 6 months ago
In an exclusive interview with India Today TV's Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel spoke on Gaza ceasefire plan, hostage releases, and whether Donald Trump deserves Nobel Peace Prize and on a host of issues.
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00:00okay let's go then to our special guest joining me now is israel's deputy foreign minister sharon
00:09haskell joins me from tel aviv appreciate you're joining us uh miss haskell are we to now be
00:15optimistic that we have a ceasefire in place if not a durable peace from what donald trump is
00:22saying it's a done deal do you also believe it's a done deal hostages will be released and israel
00:29has agreed to stop the bombings in gaza well we sure hope so when donald trump put the peace plan
00:37on the table israel said yes the arab world said yes turkey qatar jordan even the palestinian
00:44authorities said yes unfortunately the reply of hamas said that we had to continue some negotiation in
00:51the last two years hamas in the last two days hamas has agreed to the first stage of that peace plan
01:00of trump not entirely but at least the first step that gives us a lot of hope we try to contain our
01:06excitement because we've been dealing with this terrorist organization before we've been disappointed
01:12before and so um we are very hopeful that in the next few hours after our government cabinets we'll
01:20have a discussion about the in-depth detail that were discussed in the last few days we will be able
01:27to agree on this first stage of the peace process
01:32is the entire israeli cabinet uh behind the peace plan your right-wing allies in this coalition
01:43government are reportedly unhappy with it is is the entire israeli government behind benjamin netanyahu
01:51yes we do back prime minister netanyahu but it's important also to understand that this is very
01:58difficult time in return for the hostages we have to release hundreds of terrorists who were convicted
02:06with some of the most horrendous crimes you can ever imagine those people those monsters have blood on
02:12their hands who killed innocent children and women and men and they will need to be released back into
02:19society with no restrictions at all including people who were took part of the 7th of october massacre the
02:26worst massacre of jews since the holocaust and this is very difficult for the israeli society as well
02:33there's an in-depth discussion the family of those victims who were murdered by those monsters
02:39have a very difficult time and so with that joy and excitement we also have many difficulty and a lot of
02:47sadness that we are dealing with it's not that simple
02:51but you have agreed to it am i correct that you have agreed yes to withdraw behind an agreed line
03:01that there will be no further bombings in gaza are we clear about that at least in this first phase
03:06so the first phase and the ceasefire have actually gone into place now it needs to be signed the hostages
03:16that hamas abducted from their beds and have been torturing them in the last two years needs to be
03:22returned and those terrorist monster who were convicted with those crimes unfortunately will be released
03:28also back into society then we will start a discussion about the second phase as hamas hasn't
03:34accepted it as the arab world and israel have already said yes and so there will be more negotiations
03:40and more talks about the second stage of this deal hopefully we'll be able to create peace and stability
03:47because this is what israel always wanted this is what israel wanted from the start
03:57i'll come back to that in just a moment but hamas has just said uh uh uh miss haskell that it is seeking
04:04international guarantees international guarantees that israel will not resume bombing gaza
04:10after the group releases all the remaining hostages so are you all willing to give a complete guarantee
04:16that once the hostages are released there will be no resumption of the bombings of gaza which have killed
04:22thousands of innocent civilians look i i think you truly need to understand every time israel had a diplomatic
04:30path that will achieve our goals and the goals are very clear from the start the return of the hostages
04:37and dismantling hamas every time we had a diplomatic path we chose the diplomatic path even making huge
04:46concessions we don't want war we always wanted peace and stability unfortunately hamas time after time
04:53have declined it hamas is a terrorist organization and doesn't want peace and stability it's prescribed
04:59in its charter the complete annihilation of the state of israel killing all the jews in israel and out and
05:05that's why the arab countries the palestinian authority everybody has agreed that hamas doesn't have a
05:12future role in the palestinian life or governance or military it's very much accepted understanding that
05:19this is a terrorist organization that's that only seeks for death and destruction not just for israelis but for
05:28palestinians as well as long as we'll be able to and and we are very hopeful and hope that we'll be able
05:34to continue into the second stage
05:40no but are you giving that guarantee ma'am are you making a distinction between hamas and the
05:44palestinian people just as you say israelis have suffered the palestinians are turning around and saying
05:5066 000 civilians have died many are suffering from malnutrition are you are you giving a guarantee ma'am
05:57that once the hostages are released there will be no further bombings or there will be no siege of
06:03gaza look this will mean that there is a ceasefire into place it means that hamas will need to accept
06:14what the arab world and what the palestinians have accepted which is the second phase it means right
06:21now that if you know if hamas would have accepted the deal it means a long-lasting peace and stability
06:29maybe a beginning of a path as the plan of trump that speaks about economical prosperity and a
06:35different education of of a population that's indoctrinated been indoctrinated by hamas to terror
06:44it was very easy to recruit terrorists of hamas from a population that's been indoctrinated
06:49for years by a terrorist organization if we want to pass the peace which is what the arab countries
06:56understand and the palestinian authority understand and there are guarantees by those countries and by
07:03the americans as well then hamas has to agree to the terms of the peace plan of trump
07:13but but given what i'm hearing from you there is a huge trust deficit the israeli government doesn't
07:18trust hamas and whether hamas will fully disarm they in turn do not trust whether you will actually
07:24abide by what they claim is the first phase and ensure that there will be no further bombings this
07:30huge trust deficit how is that going to overcome is this therefore only a temporary peace or will it be a
07:36durable peace look this was very clear every time there was a ceasefire every time israel has signed any
07:47kind of document or agreement israel fulfilled and committed and obliged by everything that we've signed
07:54on unfortunately we've seen it is hamas a terrorist organization it is hezbollah in lebanon that actually
08:02did not commit and did not fulfill the commitment they signed on okay and so you don't need to ask us
08:09whether we will fulfill the agreement we sign on we've already proven that israel fulfilled and committed and
08:16obliged when what we sign on it is hamas the terrorist organization that time after time broke ceasefire
08:24agreement and broke what it actually signed on let me tell you an example 10 years ago during the
08:32operation of protective edge israel and hamas signed an agreement backed by the international community
08:40for a ceasefire for a ceasefire after another round of war four hours after that ceasefire was signed hamas has
08:49went out of its uh tunnels murdered israeli's troops abducted two soldiers into the dungeons of torture and
08:58have been holding them for 10 years now okay so if you're asking me about who's actually violating time after time
09:08a ceasefire how come israel did not receive the guaranteed it was promised and those hostages
09:16for 10 years are being held in hamas captivity this question you have to ask hamas because israel proved
09:24time after time that we have always committed and always fulfilled the agreements we sign on
09:30miss haskell how much credit are you giving donald trump for what has happened because trump mr trump
09:39seems to be taking all the credit that are also reports that mr trump talked tough to benjamin netanyahu saying
09:45you can't run the world bb and that he has drawn a red line even with israel has donald trump do you give
09:52donald trump the full credit for this peace plan if it is executed look there isn't a better friend
09:59to israel than president trump and he's proven that time after time if it wasn't for the military
10:06pressure hamas put on hezbollah and the massive diplomatic and bilateral pressure that donald trump put
10:14on his line on lebanon he wouldn't have seen a ceasefire there it's the same with iran it's the same
10:21with the last ceasefire of hamas the fact is that hamas has agreed to every ceasefire until now for two
10:28reasons one is the military pressure and the other one is trump's identification of who the aggressor is
10:36and put enough pressure on hamas to actually accept the deal look it's been very difficult and i know
10:44in many cases president trump have broker and negotiated many deals including india and pakistan
10:50including the democratic republic of congo and rwanda including now with ukraine and russia
10:57the fact is that on a contrast to the international community the united nation and other he's not
11:05concentrating on a process his conscience concentrating on the result and the fact is that trump's putting
11:14pressure on hamas brought those results of peace and stability until now and i really hope that in
11:21the next few hours we will witness another one
11:27do you do you believe that therefore donald trump deserves a nobel peace prize there's been much talk
11:32that donald trump himself wants the nobel peace prize the announcement will come this weekend uh hours
11:37possibly before or after the hostages are released do you believe that donald trump therefore deserves the
11:44nobel peace prize a summer or certainly the trump supporters are arguing now oh he certainly does
11:51after what he's done in africa in the middle east negotiating for the first time between the ukraine and
11:58russia after what he's done between india and pakistan as well um you know since he came into office and even a little bit
12:06before you know um he actually created more peace and more stability than anyone before i think if they don't give
12:14trump the nobel prize this institution is truly going to become a serious joke speaking about politics more than about
12:25what people actually has done to create more stability more prosperity and more peace in the world
12:35my my final question ma'am many believe that a durable peace can only come if there is a two-state
12:41solution a recognized recognition of the palestinian state we've seen in recent weeks more and more
12:46countries across the world including former israel or present israel allies are recognizing palestine
12:54do you believe do you accept that a two-state solution is needed not an international stabilization
12:59force which can only be transitional as donald trump envisages to govern gaza eventually you need a two-state
13:06solution of a palestinian state and an israeli state side by side well you couldn't be more wrong than
13:14that and the fact is that you've seen that when those declaration of a palestinian state during the last
13:22negotiation came up it only emboldened kamas's position they understood that the longer they
13:29continue with the war the long they continue the suffering of israelis and palestinians alike the
13:35more they will be rewarded by the international community the fact is that president trump's plan
13:41has nothing to do with the palestinian state and that is a proof that it doesn't have to come through
13:46that on the contrary it will come when we stop this complete obsession about the slogan of a two
13:55two-state solution and concentrate on what really matters how to make israelis and palestinians
14:02live side by side how we should concentrate on education on the economy on living side by side that's the most
14:11important thing in order to create real peace because the fact is that gaza who's was so who's
14:19going to govern gaza ma'am solution and who's going to so if that's the case who's good
14:26so who's going to govern gaza then ma'am who's going to govern gaza so president trump pretty much
14:32outlined what his vision should be and israel have agreed to this to it the arab countries have agreed to it
14:41they should be a technocratic government led by tony blair and president trump in order to rehabilitate
14:48and to create a society that is willing and wants to live beside the israeli society i think that
14:56concentrating on what are the actual measures that we need to concentrate on now instead of a slogan or an
15:04obsession is so much more important and this is something that i have to say the arab world accepted
15:11qatar accepted turkey accepted even the palestinian authority have accepted
15:20but what happens to the right to self-determination then of the palestinian people surely that has place
15:25i spoke to the palestinian ambassador to india the other day and he said that israel has committed
15:31war crimes genocide against us and therefore he wants action against benjamin netanyahu and the
15:37government in israel there is anger among palestinians as well and therefore uh do you
15:43do you uh do you actually appreciate the palestinian position at all look this is a complete load of lies
15:53that have been spread do you truly think that if there was a genocide committed not a single
16:00muslim country would accept refugees from gaza i'm certain that if that would be a reality or a truth
16:08they would actually open their doors so if the arab countries don't believe those lies certainly not
16:15western society if the intention of israel was really like that why would we facilitate aid into gaza
16:23why would we campaign an operation with hundreds of thousands of polio vaccines to vaccinate palestinian
16:32children to keep their safety i mean completely contradict those so are you telling me the images are you
16:41telling me the images of the are you telling me the images the world has seen ma'am on screen are are
16:47fake images we've seen malnourished palestinian children out of the 66 000 75 percent are believed to
16:54be women and children you surely cannot uh be obvious of uh not recognize that reality oh my god look
17:04if you want to try and picture the world a war with no casualties with rainbows and unicorns it doesn't
17:13exist our reality is that a war is a horrible scene a war is a horrible site yes there are casualties
17:23that's the reality of a war whether it is in ukraine whether it is in israel and whether it is
17:30in congo okay now i cannot picture that nicely we didn't want that war the hamas have declared a war
17:38on israel with the worst massacre of jews since the holocaust any sensible country any country who would
17:45want to defend its citizen would conduct the exact same thing what would happen if pakistan
17:53would attack and murder you know if i need to compare between the countries and the population
17:59tens of thousands of indians and murder them in a single day and abduct thousands of people and
18:07torture them every day would the government of india stand still and do nothing to defend its country
18:14its people or to return its hostages i mean this is something that every country would do for its
18:20citizen is it pretty no but every israeli wish it was the sixth of october every israeli wish that
18:28hamas would never open this war and i have to say one more thing on after the 7th of october massacre
18:35it took us three weeks to set our operation to enter gaza during this time we told hamas if you bring back
18:42our hostages and if you dismantle there won't be a single israeli soldier in gaza they decline they
18:51decline time after time any suggestion any proposition that was and so i'm sorry the responsibility for the
18:58destruction lies on the hands of hamas and hamas only
19:02in conclusion therefore ma'am if this plan does go through does benjamin netanyahu get strengthened
19:12or does he get weakened because there are as i said coalition partners who are not fully supportive
19:17of this uh of this peace plan does he 70 of israelis want the hostages released at all costs
19:23you said there's been pressure on hamas but there's been pressure on netanyahu as well
19:27so does he get stronger or weaker as a result of this peace plan ma'am
19:33look as i told you since day one israel has set those two goals of the war the one is the return
19:40of the hostages and the other one is to dismantle hamas and arm hamas the fact is that if we are able
19:49to achieve trump's peace plan it means that we've achieved the goals of the war through a diplomatic
19:55path israel prefers that and i think that netanyahu through that process achieving the goals of the
20:00war dismantling a lot of iran's capability whether it's hezbollah or the shia militias in iraq uh you
20:07know what happened in syria and iran's directly is putting it in a more strong position
20:16okay i'm gonna leave it there i appreciate sharon haskell you taking the time off and giving us the
20:26position of the israeli government and the people and and israel there thank you so much for taking
20:32the time off and joining us here thank you thank you and it's just an opportunity it's just an
20:38opportunity also to thank your government and your president and the people in india who have been
20:43praying and supporting the people of israel thank you for the bottom of our hearts
20:51thank you miss haskell for joining us
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