The military campaign in Gaza is tame compared to what the US would have done in a similar crisis, Israel Katz has claimed
FILE PHOTO: Israel Katz attends an election rally in 2020. © Gili Yaari / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz, a key ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in an interview published on Monday that Israel’s campaign in Gaza is part of a “World War III against radical Islam.”
He also claimed that the US would have reacted to Hamas’ attack, which triggered renewed hostilities, by obliterating the Palestinian enclave.
Speaking to the German tabloid Bild, the minister, who has served in multiple cabinet positions over the years, defended his nation’s response to the deadly incursion by the Palestinian militant group. As a result of the attack on its territory, Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza and is gearing up for a ground invasion. Meanwhile, even staunch allies are concerned about the harm to civilians such a move would cause and the long-term outcome of the conflict.
The Israeli official, whose parents were Holocaust survivors, called the Hamas raid on October 7 a “Nazi attack” and described the ongoing hostilities as a “third world war against radical Islam – with Russian involvement.”
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While he didn’t delve into the alleged connection to Moscow, Katz pointed out that Iran is the primary adversary of Israel in what he perceives as a global conflict. He described how Tehran employs proxy forces, some of which, Katz asserted, have infiltrated Western nations.
“The war is also within Europe. In radical communities,” he said. “Today, this world war is being waged by Iran.”
Tehran has denied direct involvement with the Hamas operation, which resulted in the worst breach of Israeli national security in five decades. However, Iran and Israel have been locked in a long and bitter proxy war for nearly 40 years. For his part, Prime Minister Netanyahu worked hard to undermine attempts by Washington to normalize relations with Iran during the administration of US President Barack Obama.
Katz deflected criticisms of the tactics the Israel Defense Forces has used in Gaza, such as cutting off crucial supplies and bombarding the densely populated Palestinian territory. He claimed his nation has “no interest” in making civilians starve and that “the humane people” of Israel operate “the most moral military in the world.”
“I know many countries that would have wiped out their neighbor after such events,” the official alleged. “If, God forbid, there had been such an attack from Mexico on Texas in the US, there would be no Mexico.”
READ MORE: Russia condemns Hamas attack but says Israel provoked it
US leadership has compared the Hamas attack with the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Those events triggered a tectonic shift in Washington’s foreign policy, leading to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as decades of counterinsurgency campaigns in the Middle East in Africa.
