•Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused world leaders of double standards, saying countries that applauded the United States for killing Osama bin Laden are now condemning Israel for taking similar action against Islamic terrorists.
In a speech on the eve of the 9/11 attacks remembrance, Netanyahu drew a parallel between the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and the October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, describing both as acts of unprecedented brutality, reports AFP.
“Tomorrow is September 11. We remember September 11. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery on American soil since the founding of the United States.
“We also have September 11. We remember October 7. On that day, Islamic terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he said.
Netanyahu criticised international reactions to Israel’s recent strike in Qatar, accusing the Gulf state of sheltering and financing Hamas leaders.
He insisted that Israel’s actions mirrored those of the United States in the aftermath of 9/11, when Washington pursued Al-Qaeda leaders across the globe.
“What did America do in the wake of September 11? It promised to hunt down the terrorists who committed the heinous crime wherever they may be, and it also passed a resolution in the Security Council of the UN, two weeks later, that said, ‘Governments cannot give harbour to terrorists.’
“Well, yesterday we acted along those lines. We went after the terrorist masterminds who committed those crimes. The October 7 massacre, and we did so in Qatar, which gives safe haven. It harborus terrorists, it finances Hamas, and it gives terrorists chieftains sumptuous villas. It gives them everything.
“So we have done exactly what America did when it went after the terrorists, the Al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, and after they went to kill Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan,” he declared.
The Prime Minister dismissed criticism of Israel’s operation, branding it as double standards.
“Now, the various countries of the world condemn Israel. They should be ashamed of themselves. What did they do after the Americans took out Osama Bin Laden? Did they say, ‘Oh, what a terrible thing was done to Afghanistan or to Pakistan?’ No. They applauded. They should applaud Israel for standing up to the same principles that carried them out,” he said.
Netanyahu issued a warning to Qatar and other countries accused of harbouring terrorists, demanding they expel or prosecute them or face direct Israeli retaliation.
“Expel them or bring them to justice. Otherwise, we will do it ourselves,” he said, stressing Israel’s determination to pursue its enemies “wherever they hide.”
