Speaker 1: It's Nightside with Dan Ray. I'm Easy Boston News Radio.
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone. There's a lot going on in the
Speaker 2: world right now. Obviously we have the Russian Ukraine War
Speaker 2: and the headlines whether or not there's going to be
Speaker 2: a ceasefire, whether or not they're going to have a
Speaker 2: limited ceasefire. All of that, we have USAir strikes against
Speaker 2: the hoody rebels in Yemen, and also of course always
Speaker 2: concerned about the nation of Iran, and now the hostilities
Speaker 2: between Israel and Tamas have been renewed, with ing with
Speaker 2: us tonight to talk about that. Delighted to have the
Speaker 2: Israeli Consul General to New England, Benny Sharoni with US
Speaker 2: Consul General. Welcome back to night Side. The war against
Speaker 2: Tamas is continuing. How are you this evening?
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Dan, good evening, giving
Speaker 3: to you, good evening to the listener. So good to
Speaker 3: be here once again. I really appreciate your opportunity to
Speaker 3: have another chat with you, and the audience keeps on
Speaker 3: reminding me why I enjoy radio so much, so I
Speaker 3: really did your opportunity.
Speaker 4: Well.
Speaker 2: I think that the great part of BRO radio is
Speaker 2: it's a much more intimate form of communication than television,
Speaker 2: because most people realize that, Okay, you can sit in
Speaker 2: front of a TV and listen to what the commentator says,
Speaker 2: but and you can talk to the TV, but no
Speaker 2: one else is going to hear you. People have an
Speaker 2: opportunity to call and ask you questions, and you've been
Speaker 2: great in the past. So we ask everybody, whatever their
Speaker 2: point of view is, to be respectful and understand that
Speaker 2: you represent the government of Israel. And I know that
Speaker 2: Israel finds itself once again in this horrific place where
Speaker 2: where they have to defend themselves, and there's a lot
Speaker 2: of people around the world who want to criticize Israel
Speaker 2: when Israel does try to defend themselves. And so let's
Speaker 2: start off with just so people can understand what happened
Speaker 2: Tuesday morning. Tuesday morning, I guess the peace talks are
Speaker 2: so called potential peace talks were still underway, and Israel
Speaker 2: struck coms and obviously made a decision that that they
Speaker 2: had to do something to move this situation towards resolution.
Speaker 2: Is the way I perceive it. Am I right or
Speaker 2: wrong on that? And if I am wrong, feel free
Speaker 2: to correct me.
Speaker 3: I think you are hundred person correct. I think this
Speaker 3: is an a correct reflection of the situation. But before
Speaker 3: we jump into that, I want to just share with
Speaker 3: you that as we speak right now, the people in Israel,
Speaker 3: in Jerusalem, in many other cities are running again to
Speaker 3: the shelters because Israel is again in the last couple
Speaker 3: of minutes under attack. This time Missie is coming again
Speaker 3: from the hoodies in Iran. And this is you know,
Speaker 3: it's another demonstration of the work of Iran and its
Speaker 3: proxies in the Middle East. Just another demonstration and either
Speaker 3: reminder or the frat and the challenges and the bad
Speaker 3: intentions of so many actors around Israel.
Speaker 2: So so that is it. That is let me just
Speaker 2: make sure I understand that. So even as we are speaking,
Speaker 2: obviously it's uh it's now Thursday morning, uh in in
Speaker 2: the Middle East.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 2: And as Israel Israelis are sleeping tonight, Uh, there are
Speaker 2: there are rockets being fired from Iran by sorry from Yemen,
Speaker 2: sorry from Yemen. Oh. I didn't realize that the hoodies
Speaker 2: could reach is So there I always thought of there.
Speaker 2: I know that they're supplied by Iran, but how long
Speaker 2: it is that that's that's a longer distance, or maybe
Speaker 2: I don't know the map of the Middle East as
Speaker 2: well as I should. How long does it take to
Speaker 2: fire a missile from from Yemen, which obviously is a
Speaker 2: failed state at this point, into Israel.
Speaker 3: It depends on the missiles. Those you know, varies in
Speaker 3: in in range and in power. Some of them it's
Speaker 3: a matter of vowels, some of them it's a matter
Speaker 3: of minutes. But again, you know, we are witnessing another
Speaker 3: another attack in Israel as we speak. But but I
Speaker 3: want to I want to come back to the thing
Speaker 3: that you currently ask and you started with, and this
Speaker 3: is the ongoing situation with Hamas in Gaza. What happened
Speaker 3: earlier this week was the war actually was never seized.
Speaker 3: We had a cease fire, and we speccessfully completed the
Speaker 3: first phase of the release of some of the hostages
Speaker 3: based on the agreement that was achieved earlier. Now, during
Speaker 3: the last two weeks or more than two weeks, there
Speaker 3: have been new attempts to negotiate and try to come
Speaker 3: to an understanding about the release of further hostages. Those
Speaker 3: are attempts mainly by the United States and new special envoys.
Speaker 3: Now two different offers put on the table by the
Speaker 3: United States were denied were not accepted by Hamas. Two
Speaker 3: offers that Israel did accept Once I think we reached
Speaker 3: an understanding that Hamas has no intention, no intention of
Speaker 3: moving further. With release of more hostages, we had no
Speaker 3: other option to resume the military campaign. I we need
Speaker 3: an ad on top of that. During the time the
Speaker 3: last couple of weeks where there was a cease file,
Speaker 3: Hamas actually continued on the basis to rebuild its terrapictabilities,
Speaker 3: to rebuild depots of arms and ammunitions, to recruit new people,
Speaker 3: to train new people, to prepare for another round of
Speaker 3: violence and escalation Israel. Now, since that is the issue,
Speaker 3: we have no other alternative but to go active fighting
Speaker 3: and make sure that we do whatever can be done
Speaker 3: to bring back the Israeli hostages. Fifty nine of them
Speaker 3: still being held in captivity in Gaza, at least half
Speaker 3: of them alive. They are held in horrible, horrible conditions,
Speaker 3: subjects to starvation, mental abuse, physical abuse, will in black
Speaker 3: valolation of the international rogue. This resuming the military campaign
Speaker 3: fully coordinated with the United States, and I think it
Speaker 3: reflects a joint understanding of what needs to be done
Speaker 3: at this stage in order to make sure that the
Speaker 3: hostages will come back and we can take care once
Speaker 3: and for all with Hamas and Gaza.
Speaker 2: The hostage has now been held more than I'm guessing
Speaker 2: it's more than five hundred days at this point, it's
Speaker 2: been a year almost. Yeah, And as the best estimate,
Speaker 2: I think that the number that I've seen is that
Speaker 2: they believe that there are fifty nine people still in captivity,
Speaker 2: either dead or alive. Is that the number that Israel works.
Speaker 3: With that is correct, That is correct and a coordinating
Speaker 3: to our knowledge, at least half of them I'll steal alive.
Speaker 3: Half of them are dead, and unfortunately some of them
Speaker 3: were taken alive and well melded by Hamas during their captivity.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I know that you at this point have
Speaker 2: debriefed the hostages who have come home, and I can
Speaker 2: imagine the stories that they have told. And I also
Speaker 2: assume that a lot of the atrocities that have been
Speaker 2: committed against the hostages who have been released and the
Speaker 2: hostages who are still there has not been made public,
Speaker 2: and understandably so, because as long as there are hostages
Speaker 2: in captivity, you do not want to endanger them, which
Speaker 2: shows the desperation that Israel must field to renew this
Speaker 2: assault on Hamas. Let me ask you this, if I could,
Speaker 2: how badly is Hamas as a military organization? I have
Speaker 2: to assume that it's been badly degraded at this point,
Speaker 2: that maybe it's using it some time here in the
Speaker 2: ceasefire to rebuild itself. But is there a public judgment
Speaker 2: given by Israel. Has fifty percent of Hamas's military capability
Speaker 2: been degraded or is it even more than that number
Speaker 2: at this point.
Speaker 3: I don't want to speak about numbers, but I think
Speaker 3: it is fair to say that the vast majority of
Speaker 3: the military capabilities have seriously downgraded due to the successful
Speaker 3: military Israeli campaigned. But having said that, they still maintain
Speaker 3: some capabilities. And we know from previous experience that if
Speaker 3: we are not going to do anything, then Hamas is
Speaker 3: going to take its time in order to rearm, regroup,
Speaker 3: gain some new ammunitions, and just prepare for another round
Speaker 3: of escalation, another round of violence with the people of Israel.
Speaker 3: We know that for sure, we can see that happening
Speaker 3: as we speak. We cannot allow that situation to continue.
Speaker 3: Hamas must be taken completely off. Hamas Regen cannot continue
Speaker 3: in any way in Gaza, neither its military capabilities. There
Speaker 3: is no hope. There is no future for the people
Speaker 3: of Gaza with the continuation of Hamas in Gaza. That
Speaker 3: Hamas must be taken out of the equation.
Speaker 2: My guess is the Israeli Console General to New England
Speaker 2: Council General Benny SHARONI will continue with our conversation. Be
Speaker 2: happy to take some phone calls if you like. Six one, seven, two,
Speaker 2: four to ten thirty six one seven, nine three one
Speaker 2: ten thirty. When we get back, we can talk about
Speaker 2: where the negotiations go from here. We know what has happened.
Speaker 2: There was a ceasefire UH and it had held relatively well.
Speaker 2: There are still negotiators. I assume that if there is,
Speaker 2: if there are not negotiations going on, there are still
Speaker 2: negotiators who are in contact and well, we'll ask the
Speaker 2: Console General about that and what we can expect in
Speaker 2: the days and the weeks ahead. We'll be back on
Speaker 2: nightside with my guest, Israeli Console General Benny Charoni to
Speaker 2: New England. He's the Consul general to New England, not
Speaker 2: just to Boston, not just the Massachusetts, but to all
Speaker 2: of New England right here on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Right after this, now back to Dan Ray live from
Speaker 1: the Window World Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: I'm delighted to be joined by the Israeli Consul General
Speaker 2: to New England, mister Benny Sharoni, Mister Consul General, is
Speaker 2: it fair to say, for most of our lives, certainly
Speaker 2: yours as an Israeli and me as an interested American,
Speaker 2: we have heard politicians talk about a two state solution.
Speaker 2: It seems to me that any hope for a two
Speaker 2: state solution has now finally over. Is that fair to say?
Speaker 3: I think looking at what is happening around Israel in
Speaker 3: the last couple of years, looking at what Israel has
Speaker 3: to deal with it, looking at the threats around US,
Speaker 3: I can understand why there was hardly any appetite from
Speaker 3: the Israeli side to engage in something that is far
Speaker 3: from you know, bringing a promise of safety and stability
Speaker 3: for the people of Israel in the future. We all
Speaker 3: witnessed what happened. We will disengage from Gaza more than
Speaker 3: twenty years ago, and instead of you know, utilizing that
Speaker 3: that opportunity, we ended up instead of the other side
Speaker 3: utilizing that opportunity in order to build something substantial. Though
Speaker 3: we ended up from you know, suffering the worst attack
Speaker 3: ever in Israel coming from Gaza. So I hard for
Speaker 3: me to see how in the near future we will
Speaker 3: be in a place where we can move toward something
Speaker 3: unless unless you know, Israel can feel one hundred percent
Speaker 3: safe in secure, which is really not the case.
Speaker 2: Is there any estimate as to how many residence citizens
Speaker 2: of Gaza are still in Gaza? Have any of them left?
Speaker 2: I mean, you look at the pictures of the rubble.
Speaker 2: Gaza has been destroyed. There's no question about that. It's
Speaker 2: been a very effective military campaign. Where are these people
Speaker 2: going in the short run of the long run and
Speaker 2: where does the Israeli government feel they should go? How
Speaker 2: can they live there under these circumstances.
Speaker 3: Most of the people are still there. There are some
Speaker 3: people who left during the last year and a half,
Speaker 3: that the vast majority of the people in Guds are
Speaker 3: still there. And the most important, the most problematic element,
Speaker 3: is that Hamas is still there. And this is this
Speaker 3: is what needs to be addressed. This, this is this
Speaker 3: is the top priority. This is the most urgent thing
Speaker 3: from an Israeli perspective, Hamas cannot stay there. We have
Speaker 3: a responsibility to do whatever can be done in order
Speaker 3: to make sure that October seven will never happen again.
Speaker 2: And that means Hamas has to the leadership at least,
Speaker 2: and its leadership structure has to leave. Is it is
Speaker 2: it possible to rebuild Gaza? If if if Hamas leadership left,
Speaker 2: is it even possible to rebuild Gaza while an entire
Speaker 2: population of a million people or whatever the number is
Speaker 2: are trying to live there. I don't see how that
Speaker 2: can be done, even if Hamas leadership left, How can
Speaker 2: how can that area be reconstructed with with people living there?
Speaker 2: I'm looking at pictures. I mean, I don't understand how
Speaker 2: that could even happen.
Speaker 3: It's true, it's a big challenge and it's a complicated
Speaker 3: uh and there's no quick solution to that situation. There
Speaker 3: are a couple of ideas. One of them, or the
Speaker 3: leading idea, was one that was presented recently by the
Speaker 3: President of the United States. Israeli is in a position
Speaker 3: that this a person is interested in meeting Gaza. You
Speaker 3: know that person can do that. But I don't think
Speaker 3: that we are in the phase already of looking at
Speaker 3: the solution of the future Gaza. We are still now
Speaker 3: in the active phase where we have to deal with
Speaker 3: the situation where Hamas continues to control Gaza. So there
Speaker 3: cannot be no rehabilitation, no rebuilding of Gaza. As long
Speaker 3: as Hamas there, we cannot move, none of us to
Speaker 3: the next phase. As long as the current situation in
Speaker 3: Gaza is the way it is now, well.
Speaker 2: I totally understand. I don't even understand how it can
Speaker 2: be rebuilt if once once Gaza, once Hamas leaves and
Speaker 2: they just seem to want to sacrifice themselves and the
Speaker 2: people of Gaza, who are probably suffering as much as anyone.
Speaker 2: The amount of damage that has been been done to Gaza,
Speaker 2: to the physical structure of Gaza is immense. Is I
Speaker 2: don't want to open up another front here, but I'm
Speaker 2: but I don't get an opportunity to talk with someone
Speaker 2: who is his knowledge of this as you what is
Speaker 2: going on in the West Bank at this point? Is
Speaker 2: that situation quieted down a little bit? I know there
Speaker 2: was some activity a few weeks ago which bothered me
Speaker 2: when I saw what was going on. Has that is
Speaker 2: that a situation under control.
Speaker 3: Yes, it's it's it's a bit better than than the
Speaker 3: last couple of weeks. But this is that is not
Speaker 3: a guarantee that that you know, this is going to
Speaker 3: be a situation. And we we know how from us
Speaker 3: continue from its presidence in uh in Gaza, and we
Speaker 3: know how he ran from each place. Are trying to
Speaker 3: exert its influence in the West Bank, you know, the
Speaker 3: mobile people to fight against Israel, and we are doing
Speaker 3: our utmost to make sure that that is not going
Speaker 3: to happen. I think the last is really the last
Speaker 3: thing that the Israeli needs and the last thing that
Speaker 3: the people of the West Bank need is to see
Speaker 3: the West Bank turns into another arena for for a
Speaker 3: fight like what we witness Congaza.
Speaker 2: No question, there's no question about that. What I what
Speaker 2: I'd like to do, mister consent General, is take a
Speaker 2: break and invite callers to join us. And it is
Speaker 2: such a dilemma. I hope that the Israeli people will
Speaker 2: stay strong. I know that there's a lot of concern
Speaker 2: about the lives of the hostages, and it seems to
Speaker 2: me to be it is it's truly a Rubik's cube
Speaker 2: about how much military uh activity can be conducted to
Speaker 2: one to simultaneously destroy hamas while at the same time
Speaker 2: free the hostages. I know it's an incredibly difficult circumstance
Speaker 2: for the government of Israel. I'm going to open up
Speaker 2: phone lines and invite people to join the conversation. We're
Speaker 2: going to take a very quick Newsbreaker'll be about two
Speaker 2: or three minutes, and we'll be back with phone calls.
Speaker 2: My guest is the Israeli Consul General to New England,
Speaker 2: Benny SHARONI. He describes to us tonight what is going
Speaker 2: on in Israel. There are rockets being fired on Israel
Speaker 2: from hoodie rebels in Yemen. I hope the United States
Speaker 2: can deal with that pretty effectively from offshore and take
Speaker 2: that threat out in its entirety. That I think would
Speaker 2: be a very proper tactical thing for our military to do,
Speaker 2: and to do it effectively. Your comments are welcome, Your
Speaker 2: questions are well. I have a couple of lines, one
Speaker 2: at six one seven thirty and one at six one
Speaker 2: seven ninety. We're going to take calls as they come in.
Speaker 2: Feel free to join the conversation. The Console General will
Speaker 2: entertain your questions and comments back on Nightside. Right after this.
Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: My guest is the Israeli Console General to New England,
Speaker 2: mister Benny SHARONI we have full lines, mister Console General,
Speaker 2: so let's let's have that and see what people have
Speaker 2: to say or ask. Let's start off with Jeff in Newton. Jeff,
Speaker 2: you are first on Nightside with Console General SHARONI go
Speaker 2: right ahead, Jeff.
Speaker 6: Hey, Dan, I was on your show a couple of
Speaker 6: times last year. I'm the guy with the hostage fence
Speaker 6: that wanted to call in to say hi.
Speaker 2: And oh, absolutely, as absolutely, I hope that fence has
Speaker 2: not been bothered. I was at the the big rally
Speaker 2: in front of your house, Jeff, so great to hear
Speaker 2: your voice.
Speaker 6: No, thank Kadam. Hasn't we put up some orange balloons
Speaker 6: for the b buses a couple of weeks ago to
Speaker 6: keep the story alive? But just wanted to comment a
Speaker 6: bid on my perspective on what's going on with the
Speaker 6: gods of war.
Speaker 2: And I said, by the way, Jeff, Jeff, before you do,
Speaker 2: have you met have you met the Consul general?
Speaker 6: And O yes, he came turned the day of the rally,
Speaker 6: he came by our house and spent a couple of
Speaker 6: months with us.
Speaker 2: Say hi to him, go and say hello, and and
Speaker 2: then whatever question of comments you want to make.
Speaker 6: Yeah, hi, mister mister Herney, thank you for the amazing
Speaker 6: job you're doing representing forces of good in the world
Speaker 6: and in the Middle East.
Speaker 5: You know, the comment is just.
Speaker 3: And thank you for calling for you. I just visited
Speaker 3: using over the weekend.
Speaker 6: Oh wonderful, wonderful. Yeah, I just you know, my comment
Speaker 6: is kind of sort of as an amateur American student
Speaker 6: of history, and you know, wars can end in three ways.
Speaker 6: Side A can win, side B can win, or can
Speaker 6: go on forever. And I don't think anyone wants a
Speaker 6: terrorist to win. And the going on forever wars just
Speaker 6: belongs to suffering. So you know, hopefully what ISRA will
Speaker 6: have the power to do now is to create a winner,
Speaker 6: because both sides lose, or civilians of both sides lose
Speaker 6: when you prolong it when one when one player has
Speaker 6: to fight with their hands behind their back, and it's
Speaker 6: kind of the sad reality of the world. But I
Speaker 6: think everyone will be better off if for once and
Speaker 6: for all, the terrorists can be rooted out, and then
Speaker 6: you know, whether it's Trump's plant, I don't know how
Speaker 6: we list it, is there something else or or whatever
Speaker 6: it is. You know, then hopefully, you know, Hamas can
Speaker 6: be replaced and one one has a chance for a
Speaker 6: better future. But so long as you know, we allow Hamas,
Speaker 6: or the world sympathizes and allows Hamas to stay alive,
Speaker 6: no one's going to have peace, at least of all
Speaker 6: the Palestinians that people claim to care about. So I
Speaker 6: just think people need to think about this. I'm taking
Speaker 6: World War two. You know, imagine if we try to
Speaker 6: have fight to a tie there, no one would have won.
Speaker 6: And at the end of the day, the world picked
Speaker 6: it set up after World War Two is a much
Speaker 6: It was a much better world, at least up the
Speaker 6: last couple of years. Maybe. So hopefully Israel will be
Speaker 6: able to do the right thing. Hopefully the United States
Speaker 6: will continue to support and the forces that claim to
Speaker 6: be for peace that but just prolong war. You know,
Speaker 6: hopefully they'll wake up one day and just see, sometimes
Speaker 6: wars have you know, the good side has to win.
Speaker 6: It's not pretty, but that's you know, that's how you
Speaker 6: have progress in the world. You know, I just want
Speaker 6: to make sure it gets that point across, because sometimes that,
Speaker 6: you know, that sort of calculus is not discussed when
Speaker 6: everyone focuses on feelings and pictures rather than on the
Speaker 6: reality on the ground.
Speaker 2: God, so general, I'm sure that you agree with Jeff's comments.
Speaker 3: Sure, sure, Jeff, thank you very much, and thank you
Speaker 3: for raising those important comments. I agree with so many
Speaker 3: of the things you just said. I want to add
Speaker 3: two points on my own perspective on that. The first
Speaker 3: one is we learn from previous rounds of escalation with
Speaker 3: Hamas that this is not just enough in order to
Speaker 3: give Hamas a serious military blow. It needs much more
Speaker 3: than that. It calls for a root can now it
Speaker 3: calls for a deep treatment. The one that can we
Speaker 3: all be one hundred percent show that Hamas will never
Speaker 3: have the ability to take control of Gaza. There's no
Speaker 3: There will be no Hamas government of the Gaza Strip
Speaker 3: and its people. Hamas will not be in a position
Speaker 3: to have military or terrorist power there and cannot continue
Speaker 3: with making the life of the people of Gaza so miserable.
Speaker 3: So this is a priority for us, and this is
Speaker 3: exactly what we are trying to do right now. The
Speaker 3: second thing that I would add is we must call
Speaker 3: out whoever support Hamas. Let me repeat that, we must
Speaker 3: call out whoever support Hamas, be those states, be those
Speaker 3: organizations or entity. It's a global issue. It's not just
Speaker 3: the concern of Israel, and I'm happy that Israel United
Speaker 3: States are working closely on that. Hopefully the whole international
Speaker 3: community will join forces, we join hands in order to
Speaker 3: completely isolate Hamas and its supporters, to take the tour
Speaker 3: from Iran for its support of Tamas and other destabilizing
Speaker 3: acts that is doing in the Middle East. So we
Speaker 3: must all join hands collectively condemn Hamas and make sure
Speaker 3: that Hamas is taken out of the equation.
Speaker 2: Jeff, I appreciate you, Carl, thank you so much.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Dan, thank you, thank you, and have a
Speaker 6: good night.
Speaker 2: Let me go to another Jeff, a friend of both
Speaker 2: of us, Jeff Robins, who's been on this show. Jeff, normally,
Speaker 2: here's a guest tonight. You here's a callie. You, of course,
Speaker 2: are a good friend of the console general Jeff Robinson.
Speaker 7: Well, thank you to both of you. The question is
Speaker 7: about cutter apropos of calling out Hamas's supporters. Americans don't
Speaker 7: know very much about them as a city of the
Speaker 7: country of three hundred or so actual citizens. It professes
Speaker 7: to be a broker of peace, but it funds Hamas
Speaker 7: and it also pours money into American universities for reasons
Speaker 7: that are peculiar, to say the least. What should we know?
Speaker 7: What should Americans know about the role of Cutter and
Speaker 7: all this?
Speaker 3: I think you know Hamas, you know we must, we
Speaker 3: must call out. As I said earlier, I think it
Speaker 3: is a collective responsibility to call out everyone who's from US.
Speaker 3: I think it is very clear that from US was
Speaker 3: getting tons of support from Cutter for so many years.
Speaker 3: And it's not just a supportful from US, it's also
Speaker 3: its usage of media and Al Jazeera, you know, exciting
Speaker 3: against Israel in so many accounts, and so that that
Speaker 3: must need that must be addressed as well. At the
Speaker 3: same time, I think we have to very in mind
Speaker 3: that when it comes to the release of the hostages,
Speaker 3: Kata was part of the negotiation access and they you
Speaker 3: know that you should command their refforts in this regard
Speaker 3: as well. But we I think we should all join hands,
Speaker 3: you know, in calling out whoever supports from US, including Caractor.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thanks Jeff appreciate.
Speaker 4: You, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2: Good night. Next up, let me go to Dave is
Speaker 2: in Needham. Dave, I appreciate you, call you a Next on,
Speaker 2: nice ie with the Israeli console generals in New England.
Speaker 2: Many SHARONI go right ahead, Dave.
Speaker 8: Sol hold Dan, thank you for taking my call. I
Speaker 8: need Dave need him the lie Shamaheva, but earlier day.
Speaker 8: So far, so hopefully I'll be if God wills be
Speaker 8: in BeSheva living there at the end of the year.
Speaker 8: What I want to say to you, Consul General, is,
Speaker 8: first of all, it is extremely important, as important as
Speaker 8: winning the war against Hamas to stop what the Israeli
Speaker 8: press euphemistically calls reforma. Those judicial reforms are are equally
Speaker 8: a threat to to Israeli democracy as Hamas is. And secondly,
Speaker 8: that not everybody, as you've heard tonight, not everybody in
Speaker 8: Massachusetts is a crazy radical uh campus left wing alleged
Speaker 8: peace activists. And by the way, if they were, they
Speaker 8: would take to heart almost Osa's dictum that some that
Speaker 8: the real enemy is not war, the real enemy is aggression,
Speaker 8: and Hamas is the aggressor. And you know as Jeff
Speaker 8: an acquaintance of mindset earlier. Yeah, you've got to do
Speaker 8: everything you can and please you know, know that that
Speaker 8: we will be here to support you. WIM there to
Speaker 8: support you in some cases as much as we would
Speaker 8: be UH in favor of wiping out the Nazis in
Speaker 8: World War two. UH, the same means that there were
Speaker 8: necessary then and even the same scale of civilian casualties
Speaker 8: if necessary. It is totally justified because of the level
Speaker 8: of guilt that even the UH released hostages, who you
Speaker 8: know often oppose this offensive, but they but they agree
Speaker 8: that that there's basically no civilian innocence. I think that
Speaker 8: may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but they
Speaker 8: basically never saw an innocent civilian all the time that
Speaker 8: they were seeing civilians helping hold them in Gaza.
Speaker 2: Do you have a question your question for my guest.
Speaker 2: I appreciate your commitment, but I also just want to
Speaker 2: make sure if you will have a question, go ahead.
Speaker 8: Well, I suppose my question would be, first of all,
Speaker 8: while you're beating Hamas, my question will be, will you
Speaker 8: please tell your government to stop the judicial reform?
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you the comments, and thank you for
Speaker 3: calling and thank you for the support you expressed and
Speaker 3: I hope your visit to Israel will go will go
Speaker 3: fine and good. And as I'm sure you're aware, there
Speaker 3: are different views within Israel with regards to what is
Speaker 3: called the judicial reform, and this is currently being debated
Speaker 3: in Israel. As you can see, the government has a
Speaker 3: position on that, the people, some of the people have
Speaker 3: different positions on that, and there's an ongoing discussion that
Speaker 3: takes place as we speak in Israel about those issues.
Speaker 2: Which is one of the great things about it, which
Speaker 2: is one of the great things about the democracy that
Speaker 2: is Israel that different voices can be heard. Dave, I'm
Speaker 2: up on my break and I got i gotta break
Speaker 2: for a commercial. I thank you so much for calling,
Speaker 2: and thank you for your support of Israel.
Speaker 8: Thanks.
Speaker 2: We'll be back.
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you very much for that.
Speaker 2: We will be back on Night Side with my guest,
Speaker 2: Israeli Console General to New England, Venny Sharoni, talking about
Speaker 2: what is going on in Israel as dawn is approaching
Speaker 2: quickly and the war against Tamas continues. In the war
Speaker 2: against Israel by the Hoodies continues as missiles are falling
Speaker 2: on Israeli cities and Israeli neighborhoods. Even as we speak,
Speaker 2: We'll be back on Nightside. Join us now.
Speaker 1: Back to Dan way Li from the Window World nights
Speaker 1: Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Guy, you try to get everyone in. Let me go
Speaker 2: to Joe and Weston first. Joe, you were on with
Speaker 2: Israeli Consul General to New England, Benny SHARONI go ahead.
Speaker 4: Joe, Hi Consul General and Dan. We really appreciate I
Speaker 4: really appreciate your support and you're having these conversations on
Speaker 4: your program. I was visiting Israel and a Friends of
Speaker 4: the IDEF mission with my good friend Jeff Robbins in
Speaker 4: March twenty twenty twenty five before the withdrawal, and we
Speaker 4: saw a beautiful sunset over the Mediterranean, and I thought,
Speaker 4: all the Palestinians need to do is builth hotels along
Speaker 4: that coast, and it would be a paradise. Everyone would
Speaker 4: have jobs and there would be tremendous prosperity. I of
Speaker 4: course also realized that would never happen. It seems clear
Speaker 4: that Hamas cares more about killing Jews and destroying Israel
Speaker 4: than the lives and welfare of their own people, your
Speaker 4: thoughts of where what we can do about this and
Speaker 4: where we can go with it.
Speaker 3: So, Joe, thank you for visiting Israel. Those visits to
Speaker 3: Israel by f ideas Another spends such a strong message
Speaker 3: of solidarity with the people of Israel, and they're so
Speaker 3: appreciated by so many people. So thank you for going.
Speaker 3: Hopefully you will go again. I think you're putting your
Speaker 3: finger on the right issue. It is very clear that
Speaker 3: Hamas is mainly interested in building the industry of death
Speaker 3: rather than building life in Gaza. This is why from
Speaker 3: from our perspective, there can be no decent future for
Speaker 3: the for Gaza and its people as long as Hamas
Speaker 3: is there. Whether Gaza can be rebuilt, I think it can.
Speaker 3: It's not an easy issue, but we saw in other
Speaker 3: parts of the world how the places will completely ruined
Speaker 3: by by the outcomes of war and then they you know,
Speaker 3: they completely rebuild and some places turned into flourishing cities.
Speaker 3: Whether it can happen in Gaza, potentially it might. But
Speaker 3: the first thing that we need to address, the first
Speaker 3: thing that needs to be taken care of before we
Speaker 3: can start to move towards that future, is that Hamas
Speaker 3: must be taken out.
Speaker 2: Joe, I appreciate your call. I've got a bunch of callers.
Speaker 2: We're going to try to get everyone in before we
Speaker 2: wrap it up. Thank you so much for your kind words.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Joe, good night.
Speaker 2: Next up is Jeff in wal dam Jeffrey, you are
Speaker 2: got to be a little tight for me here because
Speaker 2: we got.
Speaker 9: Try to be brief. That's a challenge for me. First,
Speaker 9: I want to I want to send my greetings in
Speaker 9: great respect for the Console General and I you know,
Speaker 9: I don't quite know the proper form of address your
Speaker 9: excellency or.
Speaker 2: Console General find jeff go right ahead.
Speaker 5: Con okay, doc us who you.
Speaker 9: A little formal? But in any event, I did want
Speaker 9: to pose a rhetorical question in rather blunt terms. Okay, now,
Speaker 9: where the biggots going to acknowledge that if amask gave
Speaker 9: a damn about the Paracenians, they could have ended this
Speaker 9: war any minute after October in twenty three. Okay, good question.
Speaker 2: Let's let's get the reaction of the Console General. I
Speaker 2: respect the answer is never. But go ahead, mister Console General.
Speaker 3: If I got correctly with if the question was whether
Speaker 3: Hamas is actually interested in the people of Gaza, and no,
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 9: It's quite evident they are not.
Speaker 5: Okay, No, I think they are not even shy about that, right.
Speaker 3: You know, they are very clear in their intentions, They
Speaker 3: are very clear in their mandate. They are there first
Speaker 3: and foremost in order to try to destroy Israel. They
Speaker 3: were never even you know, trying to make any effort
Speaker 3: to conceal that that has been their agenda all along
Speaker 3: the way. This is unfortunate, but this is a thing
Speaker 3: that we have to address.
Speaker 9: But the question really, what about this too? What are
Speaker 9: the bigs cano acknowledge that Ama saysn't give a damn
Speaker 9: about the Palestinians. Okay, uh, don't hold your.
Speaker 2: Breadth of that one, Jeff, Jeff, I got two other callers.
Speaker 2: I'd like to accommodate them as well, my friend. Okay,
Speaker 2: don't hold you Those are two good rhetorical questions. The
Speaker 2: answers are there for everyone to see.
Speaker 5: Thanks, Jeff, Okay, thank you, Dan, thank you.
Speaker 2: Gotta get gotta get Will in Long Island on for
Speaker 2: the console. General, will your next one?
Speaker 4: Night?
Speaker 2: Said you gotta be quick for me? Will I get
Speaker 2: one more going?
Speaker 10: Mister SHARONI is mister Sharani's nice to speak with you.
Speaker 10: I believe you will defeat Hamas. I believe with the
Speaker 10: American leadership now in place, we will certainly support you
Speaker 10: in defeating Hamas. But the real crux of the issue
Speaker 10: I want to ask you, I think that you know
Speaker 10: that needs to be addressed, is after you defeat Hamas.
Speaker 10: If the people of Palestine really believed that Israel should
Speaker 10: exist and an Israeli sovereignty and just in Judaism in general,
Speaker 10: Hamas would have never existed to begin with. They never
Speaker 10: would have had control of Palistine. The real crux of
Speaker 10: the issue is after you get rid of Hamas, the
Speaker 10: Islamic nations around you, including the people that will run Hamas,
Speaker 10: including the Palestinians, don't believe in your right to exist
Speaker 10: or to survive. What do you do after you get
Speaker 10: rid of them? When the underlying sentiment of the Palestinian
Speaker 10: people is for Israelis to no longer exist, and then
Speaker 10: after you Christians like myself to no longer exist. If
Speaker 10: you don't believe Allah is the prophet, and Mohammad and
Speaker 10: Muhammad is the Prophet, and Allah is the one and
Speaker 10: only true God, you must submit or be overrun. What
Speaker 10: do you do then, because without addressing that, you will
Speaker 10: never truly have peace there because someone else will fill
Speaker 10: Hamas's shoes, like we've seen.
Speaker 2: Give him a chance before will the question is obvious.
Speaker 2: Let's get give him a chance to respond. It's a
Speaker 2: it's a tough question. Have to be optimistic ahead.
Speaker 3: When when we are looking and I'm looking at the
Speaker 3: Middle List, I see a very clear distinction. I see
Speaker 3: distinction between the long list of states, Arab state, Islamic states.
Speaker 3: They have a genuine interest in the future of the
Speaker 3: Middle List that willing to work closely with the United States,
Speaker 3: with Israel in order to build the collective future of
Speaker 3: the people of the Middle List. I was there on
Speaker 3: the White House loan, the Theayd, the Abrama quotes. Will
Speaker 3: signed a historical moment where Israel signed a peace agreement,
Speaker 3: normalized this relation with the United Arab Emirs, where the
Speaker 3: Kingdom of Bahrain, it is real, it is happening. It
Speaker 3: offers a genuine better prospect for the people of the
Speaker 3: Middle list. And at the same time we see a
Speaker 3: list of countries headed by Iran that are trying to
Speaker 3: do exactly the opposite. I think what we can do
Speaker 3: is to work collectively together, Israel, the United States closely together,
Speaker 3: I mean the other Arab states in the region. We
Speaker 3: have shared the same interest, the same vision like we
Speaker 3: do about the future, and to be the least and
Speaker 3: try to work out the issues together.
Speaker 11: So then a quick follow up is this, basically, do
Speaker 11: you think that even with Hamaskhan, even if you could
Speaker 11: get around to make some concessions, do you ever think
Speaker 11: that Israelis and Palestinians will ever coexist?
Speaker 3: I'm afraid that I do want to be a prophet
Speaker 3: and that I can see that's sorry into the future.
Speaker 11: Thank you, sir, I would thank you.
Speaker 2: Will Uh Joni's in Pennsylvania. Joni, I got only about
Speaker 2: a minute. Can you do anything with it?
Speaker 9: Yes?
Speaker 5: How is this affecting Israeli and Palestinian children?
Speaker 3: Suri? I didn't get the question.
Speaker 2: See the question is how is this affecting the Israeli
Speaker 2: and the Palestinian children?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: I think this is unfortunate because children on both sides
Speaker 3: are affected in a devastating manner. You know, I spend
Speaker 3: October sevens together with my kids in Israel. They need
Speaker 3: to run to shelter so many times a day. When
Speaker 3: you woke up in the middle of the night because
Speaker 3: of sirens. That leaves an effect, an emotional effect on people.
Speaker 3: It has a devastating effect also also children in Gaza.
Speaker 3: But the most important thing is we need to ask
Speaker 3: ourselves why it is that that is the case, Why
Speaker 3: it is that this is what is happening to children,
Speaker 3: to Palestinian children, to israel children. Who is responsible it
Speaker 3: is that makes this situation?
Speaker 2: Absolutely we know it is a mess. It is a mess. Johnny,
Speaker 2: thank you, Council General, as always, thank you very much.
Speaker 2: There are a lot of interesting questions. Again, we must
Speaker 2: always continue to hope that the right or the good
Speaker 2: will prevail at the end of the day. I so
Speaker 2: appreciate you joining us tonight, and you're welcome back here anytime.
Speaker 2: I hope you realize that.
Speaker 3: Dear Dan, thank you. Thank you for all the listeners
Speaker 3: and so the people who called and express support and
Speaker 3: all the people who ask questions. Always a pleasure to
Speaker 3: be at your show, and I'm looking forward for another opportunity.
Speaker 3: Hopefully at the certain point we can speak about the Celtics,
Speaker 3: the Patriot and the Red Sox.
Speaker 2: I will look forward to that day too. But let
Speaker 2: us deal with the important issues that are going on
Speaker 2: right now, and thank you for please you know, let
Speaker 2: the Israeli speak, the Israeli people know that they have
Speaker 2: a lot of support here in New England. Thank thank you,
Speaker 2: thank you, good night, good night. When we come back.
Speaker 2: I'm going to take exception with the Trump administration on
Speaker 2: a deportation based upon the facts that I am aware
Speaker 2: of that has taken place in Texas, and I think
Speaker 2: the administration and would be well advised to continue with
Speaker 2: the deportation of criminals. But I think if there ever
Speaker 2: was a case of an exception, we'll talk about it
Speaker 2: on the other side of the eleven o'clock news here
Speaker 2: on nightside