'He is Wrong': Netanyahu Defies Biden's 'Red Line', Pledges to Continue Operations in Rafah

Tel Aviv – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to defy the ‘red line’ imposed by US President Joe Biden and expressed his intention to press ahead with the invasion of the city of Rafah. During an interview with Politico on Sunday, the Israeli premier publicly and directly rejected the US President's assertion over Israel's operation in the city of Rafah. The remarks from Netanyahu came after Biden warned that an offensive in the region would be a “red line”. Biden expressed his frustration during an interview with MSNBC on Saturday in which he opposed the escalation of the conflict into Rafah and insisted that he could not accept "30,000 more Palestinians dead."

“I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that I’m pursuing private policies against the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he’s wrong on both counts," the Israeli premier told Politico on Sunday. “These are not my private policies only. They are policies supported by the overwhelming majority of Israelis," he added. The Israeli premier went on to reject Biden's “red line” and stated that he has his own “red line” in the ongoing conflict.  “We'll go there. We're not going to leave. You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is, that October 7 doesn't happen again. Never happens again,” Netanyahu averred. He also predicted that the fighting in the region could end in as little as a month. “We've destroyed three-quarters of Hamas' fighting terrorism battalions. And we're close to finishing the last part in warfare,” the Israeli leader said. Fighting would not “take more than two months.” “Maybe six weeks, maybe four," he added. 

Netanyahu rejects two-state solution

The Israeli premier once again rejected the prospects of having a two-state solution in the ongoing conflict and even the possibility of having a Palestinian state. “The positions that I espouse are supported by the overwhelming majority of Israelis who say to you after October 7: 'We don't want to see a Palestinian state,'” he said. Netanyahu also hit back at Biden's comments that he is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel.” “[The Israeli people] also support my position that says that we should resoundingly reject the attempt to ram down our throats a Palestinian state. That is something that they agree on,” the Israeli premier furthered. 

Netanyahu also took time to slam the European view that there cannot be peace without a two-state solution. "Yeah, they would say it. But they don't understand that the reason we don't have peace is not because the Palestinians don't have a state. It's because the Jews have a state. And in fact, the Palestinians have not brought themselves to recognize and accept the Jewish state," he said.  Netanyahu insisted that Israel should have full security control over all Arab territory which is on the west of the Jordan River.