In an exclusive interview with Pankaj Mishra of Oneindia, Zvika Klein from the Jerusalem Post highlighted Israel's isolation in its multi-front conflict. Klein emphasized the devastating impact on Israeli lives and accused Hamas of inflating casualty numbers. He firmly stated Israel's opposition to Palestinian statehood and expressed disappointment in Western allies' perceived lack of support. The interview provides insight into Israel's perspective on the ongoing war.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to this special broadcast on one year anniversary of the dastardly attack
00:10by the Gaza on Israel and what transpired 365 days ago needs no introduction now.
00:19And things since then have changed and changed for good.
00:23Joining us to discuss further this morning is Azuika Klein, Editor-in-Chief of the Jerusalem
00:29Post.
00:30Azuika, I know you are in Tel Aviv and the situation there must be somber.
00:35This is one morning that Israel would always want to forget, but situation as such does
00:42not allow.
00:43So 365 days later, how is it that the families and people are holding up there?
00:50So good morning from Jerusalem, actually.
00:53And you know, it's overwhelming.
00:58We just published our cover this morning with 10 words basically saying, you know,
01:04there are no words to explain what happened.
01:09And on the one hand, as you said, Israel is still in a moment of pain and of remembering
01:18those that were killed.
01:20But also, you know, in the past few weeks, Israel has been succeeding in many military
01:26operations, something that has both, you know, long-term will help Israel, but also
01:33assisted Israeli pride and Israeli nationality.
01:39I think it's something that definitely affects the day-to-day feeling of Israelis, whether
01:46it attacks in Lebanon, attacks in Iran, a potential attack in Iran in the near future.
01:55So all those together kind of, you know, a bit ease the pain, though I would say it's
02:02just still so overwhelming, you know, still hundreds of thousands of Israelis who haven't
02:08been able to return to their homes.
02:11Thousands were killed.
02:13So it's definitely not a day, you know, it's not an anniversary.
02:19It's a commemoration day while we're still at war.
02:23Just this morning, 629 is when Israel stopped for a minute to remember what happened a year
02:30ago.
02:31And then the exact minute, Hamas sent rockets at southern Israel.
02:41So as much as Israel is a strong and powerful army, etc., they still have the ability to
02:50shoot rockets at civilians.
02:51So that's the situation that has to change.
02:56Right, absolutely.
02:58And Gaza, after staying silent for some days with the focus shifting on Hezbollah, the
03:04fight against Hezbollah, now Gaza choosing the same day to inflict more injury, there's
03:12something which is unimaginable.
03:14Zika, more than 1400-1500 people killed in that attack.
03:21And now on the other side of Gaza, roughly around 40 to 45,000 people have lost their
03:27lives.
03:28At one platform, you see it as the right to retaliate.
03:34On the other, if we talk about humanitarian situation at this point of time, Prime Minister
03:39Netanyahu too has rejected the peace and all the efforts that were made by several Western
03:47allies.
03:48Do you think the way Israel is choosing to go, the path that it is taking as of now,
03:55is the only path available?
03:56I just want to correct two things that you said.
03:59You mentioned the numbers of casualties in Gaza.
04:04That is debatable, including the United Nations saying that there were mistakes made because
04:10it's a Hamas-run health ministry.
04:14It really is unknown exactly.
04:17And also, unfortunately, Hamas did not allow many civilians to leave when the IDF kept
04:23on telling them day after day, leave this area because we are going to bomb or search
04:29for terrorists.
04:30As for Prime Minister Netanyahu also, he actually did agree with too many peace suggestions
04:36by countries, by the negotiators, as well as suggest his own peace agreement and release
04:48of hostages, Israel releasing terrorists with blood on their hands in return.
04:57But Hamas kept on changing the conditions or just disappearing and not giving an answer.
05:06So regarding Prime Minister Netanyahu, I think, first of all, there may have been more to
05:15be done at a certain point.
05:17I think now, he's definitely after he said yes so many times to a peace treaty and succeeding
05:25in a military operation and so many fronts, seven fronts.
05:31His popularity has surprisingly actually grown within Israeli society.
05:37I was meaning to ask that, domestically, how Bibi has fared, I mean, is he facing some
05:45sort of internal heat also, we saw, we heard him giving the ultimatum to France President
05:51Macron, and he made an impassioned speech, I must admit.
05:55At the beginning and after the war, and for many, many months, he was rock bottom when
06:00it comes to public support and polls, he still is not a very positive figure for most Israelis
06:07or for, let's say, at least half of the Israelis.
06:10That said, there have been many successes and if your opposition is supporting what
06:17you're doing, it's kind of a win-win situation for the person who's running the country.
06:24One final question, it's early morning there, you have to continue with your official work
06:30also on this very, I would say, not a red letter day, but a day that Israel won't forget
06:37ever.
06:40Middle East has been pulled into this equation like never before.
06:45And Iran, no matter how silent it tried to stay with its proxies, Hezbollah doing the
06:51frontal war.
06:52I don't know if they're trying to stay silent or not, but yeah, okay, yeah, I mean, yeah,
07:00so they try to have his proxies make the noise and then them just talking but not doing.
07:05Yeah, exactly.
07:06Yes, absolutely.
07:07Do you think that Israel wanted Iran to know that they are not going to take this quote
07:16unquote silence from Iran?
07:19You know, lying down and now what is unfolding the direct conflict between Iran and Israel?
07:26Where does it go from here?
07:27So Iran, I mean, I would just disagree in the fact that Iran has been silent Iran, their
07:33leaders have been saying for decades, they will not acknowledge the existence of the
07:37State of Israel.
07:38They call it the Zionist state, which is fine, you know, I see it as a compliment, but they
07:44won't call it by its name.
07:46They seek the destruction of the State of Israel and they say it out.
07:50It's not even like insinuated, they say it, they say Israel should not exist.
07:56And you know, so I think Israel and definitely because of all the direct and through proxy
08:03attacks on Israel, Israel and Israel, because it has seen Iran as a threat for so many decades,
08:13just like they were able to allegedly, according to foreign reports, blow up thousands of pagers
08:20and cell phones at the exact moment they wanted to and kill terrorists and to exactly eliminate
08:31Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political wing of Hamas in Tehran without, you know, in a
08:39very secure area without harming anyone else.
08:42You know, Israeli intelligence is so strong in Iran, and it's just a matter of time until
08:49those capabilities are going to be shown.
08:52This is something that Israel has said outwardly.
08:56And you know, at the beginning, we call this the Israel-Hamas war, but it really isn't
09:00the Israel-Hamas war, it's the Israel-Iranian war because the Houthis, Hezbollah, you know,
09:07the militants in Syria and in any other country around the world that's shooting rockets at
09:14Israel now, just because they're all funded by Iran, and they're all identified with Iran.
09:22Right, right, absolutely.
09:25And yes, the final assault, the final blow as Prime Minister Netanyahu has promised once
09:34again that the victory will be theirs.
09:37Zwicka, we spoke earlier also in this course of 365 days, this is our second or third interaction,
09:43I remember.
09:45We hope to speak in better situations in the coming days or years.
09:50Are we seeing another anniversary attached to this, this whole episode, or do you see
09:56the war finally reaching to or the retaliation finally reaching its conclusion soon?
10:01I try to be optimistic and think that, you know, sometime within this next year, there
10:06will be an end.
10:07It's just very difficult to imagine because there are seven fronts, and even more, I guess,
10:14but there's so many, so many details that need to be worked out in order for this war
10:20to end.
10:22I think it is inevitable at a certain point to stop and also think of the day after this
10:29because Israelis haven't really had the time to think about that, but it's definitely something
10:34that we need to think about.
10:37I do also want to say that I think, you know, from my many conversations with the Indian
10:43diplomats, and obviously these are things that happen under the radar, but India has
10:49been a very close ally of Israel throughout this time, assisting Israel militarily, intelligence-wise,
10:58etc.
11:00And I think that's something that, you know, in a time when Israel feels more isolated
11:07and probably is more isolated than it was a year ago, definitely from Western countries
11:13that are now asking it to retain and to stop and to reconsider, you know.
11:21And the state of Palestine also.
11:25Exactly.
11:26A hundred percent.
11:27Or acknowledging one side, acknowledgement of certain states.
11:33I think the friendship and the support we've been receiving from India, and as I said,
11:39most of it is quiet, as Indians do in a very, you know, smart and sensitive way, is something
11:47that most Israelis aren't even aware of.
11:51I am aware of, and I think it's something to be commended.
11:54Well, Zwicka, thank you so much for speaking to One India.
11:57I really appreciate your time and inputs here.
11:59Zwicka Klein there, Editor-in-Chief of the Jerusalem Post, joining us on this grateful
12:03day of October 7th, all the way from Jerusalem.
12:06We wish you, your family and your countrymen all the very best, Zwicka.
12:10Thank you so much.
12:12Thanks.
12:14Don't miss out.
12:15Log on to OneIndia.com for more updates.