“Free Palestine” protests — which, let’s face it, are cookies for the Hamas terror group — have been occurring across the globe, including New York City and London. But if these protesters think their numbers and loud voices will sway Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, they should think again.

In a speech on Saturday, Netanyahu warned that Israel’s war against Hamas would continue “full force.” Moreover, nothing will stop Israeli forces until every member of Hamas is dead.

Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz, the Prime Minister said:

The war against Hamas-ISIS is advancing at full force and it has one goal – victory. There is no substitute for victory. We will eliminate Hamas and bring back our hostages. IDF forces have completed the encirclement of the city of Gaza. They are operating in the heart of the city and are on the outskirts of Shifa Hospital. They have eliminated thousands of terrorists including senior commanders and arch-murderers who were among those involved in the terrible massacre on the cursed Saturday of October 7.

War Cabinet Minister Gantz also had words for the anti-Israel crowd:

There is no fight more moral than our battle for the right to live securely in our land. You need to act so that a different reality will be possible afterward, and so that Gaza will not again be held by those whose hands are covered in the blood of the innocent.

It is Hamas that brought ruin upon the residents of Gaza. It should be pressured and attacked, so that the hostages are returned and so that the day will come when the war will be over.

Yet on NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday morning, Netanyahu sounded like he was singing a more conciliatory tune. Or was he?

Netanyahu Gets Pressured About Hostages

On Meet the Press, the Israeli prime minister hinted to host Kristen Welker that there could be a deal to release some of the 240 hostages held by Hamas. That’s especially encouraging when you consider that last month Hamas released four hostages, including two US citizens.

But when Welker pushed him on it, Netanyahu turned cagey:

There could be, but I think the less I say about it, the more I’ll increase the chances that it materializes.

However, lest anyone think that Bibi has turned soft, here are his very words. He attributes any possibility of a deal to the fact that the IDF is pounding Hamas:

Bibi Netanyahu is truly between the proverbial rock and a hard place. He knows his popularity in Israel has dropped since he was caught unprepared for the October 7 attack. Even a member of his Likud party told a news agency that “The question is no longer whether Netanyahu will go, but when.”

But if Bibi were to effect a release of hostages, it could help his standing among Israeli citizens. He could regain some of his hero status.

Yet he also knows what happens when you try to play nice with Hamas. In 2011, Israel exchanged more than 1000 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Among those 1000 was Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who helped orchestrate the October 7 massacre.

So how do you cut a deal with people who want nothing more than to wipe your entire population from the earth?

Antisemitism on a Global March

Meanwhile, as I mentioned above, antisemitic protests and disruptions are occurring across the western world, most recently in London. What makes these events so disturbing was that they occurred on Remembrance Day. The UK and Commonwealth nations observe November 11 — the day of the World War I armistice — in much the same way we observe Memorial Day, as a time to honor those who died in service to the nation.

My husband and I recently returned from a two-week trip to Scotland and England in late October. We soon noticed that there were poppies everywhere to commemorate the military fallen. Citizens had donned little poppies on their clothing; even TV news anchors sported them. Soldiers in uniform sold them at train stations. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey was wreathed in red poppies.

Personal image.

For a nation that is becoming a nanny state, the Brits are proud of their military history, particularly during the 20th century. And they should be proud — the little nation did some very heavy lifting during both world wars.

As for Palestinian protests — we saw very little activity in Scotland, save for some Support Palestine tents in the City Centre of Glasgow. Considering that Glasgow has three major universities, and the City Centre crowd were mostly young adults, it wasn’t surprising.

But in Liverpool we observed a full-on protest which blocked a major city street. Our bus had just dropped us off near our hotel when I heard chants and saw that traffic couldn’t move due to the protesters.

Personal image. Our bus is on the left.

However, nothing compared to what happened in London over this past weekend. Fortunately we had already returned home.

Some 300,000 pro-Palestinians joined in massive rallies calling for “free, free Palestine” and demanding an immediate ceasefire.

https://twitter.com/TheInsiderPaper/status/1723386753233670653

Even more shameful was how patriotic Brits selling poppies at Victoria Station were forced to move their booth to accommodate the pro-Palestinian fanboys. On Remembrance Day, no less.

Absolutely shameful. Poppy Sellers at Victoria Station forced to move away by pro Hamas enthusiasts. This is how low we fall. pic.twitter.com/NUiPipTJSe

— David Vance (@DVATW) November 11, 2023

Bibi Netanyahu Must Hold the Line

Despite the pressure across the west and even from his own countrymen, Prime Minister Netanyahu must stay strong in the face of Hamas evil.

Consider these words of writer Sam Harris in the Free Press:

In the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack, it’s important to keep in view the bright line that exists between good and a very specific form of evil. It is the evil of bad ideas — ideas so bad that they can make even ordinary human beings impossible to live with.

There’s a piece of audio from October 7 that many people have commented on. It’s a recording of a cell phone call that a member of Hamas made to his family, while he was in the process of massacring innocent men, women, and children ….

“Dad, I’m talking to you from a Jewish woman’s phone. I killed her, and I killed her husband. I killed ten with my own hands! Dad, ten with my own hands! Dad, open WhatsApp and see how many I killed, Dad. Open the phone, Dad. I’m calling you on WhatsApp. Open the phone, go. Dad, I killed ten. Ten with my own hands.”

Plus, journalist Douglas Murray told Piers Morgan in a heated interview from a few days ago — which you can watch here — that Hamas are not Nazis. Hamas are worse, Murray said. Even members of the SS — the most brutal and ungodly of the Nazis — often had to get drunk after massacring Jewish women and children. Hamas, however, revels in such abominations.

This is what Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing right now. Yet he must remain Churchillian in his approach to this war.

As Winston Churchill said on May 13, 1940, when Germany was threatening the British Isles: You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. 

Featured image: “Benjamin Netanyahu at press conference” by Downing Street is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Cropped.