Following are excerpts from interviews Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave [24-27 April] to international media outlets [BBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC] following the pact made between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas terrorist organization.
A pact with Hamas or peace with Israel:
He [Abbas] made a decision: instead of choosing to embrace peace with Israel, he made a pact with Hamas, a terror organization committed to Israel's destruction. He can have peace with Israel or a pact with Hamas. He can't have both. I hope that he decides to abandon this pact with the terrorist Hamas and come back to the peace with Israel. [BBC: Interview with Jeremy Bowen, 24 April 2014]
[Abbas has] embraced one of the preeminent terrorist organizations of our time, committed to the annihilation of the Jewish state, committed in its charter to the murder of Jews wherever they are. This is the partner that he chose and he has to choose: either peace with Israel or a pact with Hamas. He can't have both. He chose Hamas. So unless President Abbas changes his decision on a pact with Hamas, he's effectively killed the peace process. [Fox News: Interview with Bret Baier, 24 April 2014]
I think the pact with Hamas kills peace. If it [the pact] moves forward, it means that peace moves backwards. [MSNBC: Interview with Andrea Mitchell, 24 April 2014]
Israel's willingness to continue negotiations:
In fact, what I say to him [Abbas] very simply is this: President Abbas, tear up your pact with Hamas. Recognize the Jewish state. Make peace. I hope you do that. But you can't have both Hamas and peace with Israel. [Face the Nation, CBS, 27 April 2014]
Either Hamas disavows the destruction of Israel and embraces peace and denounces terror, or President Abbas renounces Hamas. If one of those things happened, then we can get back to the peace negotiations. I hope that he renounces Hamas. I hope that he gets back to the peace table. [CNN, 27 April 2014]
Israel's appreciation for the US role:
I think the United States has been indispensable in all the peace negotiations that we've had up to now. It doesn't obviate the need for genuine, direct contact between the parties, but it can help a lot. And I appreciate Secretary Kerry's unbelievable efforts. They don't always succeed, and unfortunately President Abbas made sure of that by embracing Hamas. But I have to credit John Kerry for his efforts. [CNN, 27 April 2014]
The international community:
We have a clear understanding between the United States and Israel that Israel, as I said, will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas. I think what's important is to bring that clarity to the entire international system, or at least to most of it, because this is a giant step away from peace that the Palestinian president took. [MSNBC, 24 April 2014]
The fourth prisoner release:
These are not prisoners; these are terrorists who have murdered Israelis and I made an agonizing decision, in the pursuit of advancing peace, to release them but I wasn't going to release the last batch when President Abbas was clearly thinking of throwing up the whole peace process and smashing it to the ground, as unfortunately he has. [MSNBC, 24 April 2014]