Your Excellency, tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate. The parties blame each other for each act. On the scene of the conflict with Israel are the Gaza Strip, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen... I would like to share your opinion on some current issues.
Let's go back in time, to the attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Damascus. Some media wrote that the strike was carried out, I quote – "allegedly from Israel". Did Israel carry out the strike and if "yes" - was this action necessary?
As you may know, Israel does not claim responsibility for this attack. Nevertheless, and rather more significantly, Iran acknowledged that those killed in Damascus were senior terrorists from the Quds Force, as well as Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and publicly praised and glorified them. No diplomats or citizens were harmed, and those who were targeted were not exactly engaged in diplomacy. A diplomatic mission is not meant to host or harbor terrorism, this goes against the most basic principles of the Vienna Convention. We are facing an ongoing armed conflict in which Israel is taking action to defend itself against a range of terrorist organizations operating on behalf of Iran. Iran is the main sponsor of terror throughout the world.
From here a game of "checkmate“ between Iran and Israel with drones. Strike back. Iran directed over 300 drones and missiles at your territory, then Israel at Iran, but they pretended nothing happened. What is the way to regulate relations between Israel and Iran?
Iran is the second Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel as a sovereign state after Turkey. Israel and Iran had open embassies until 1979. Then there were direct flights between Tehran and Tel Aviv and we maintained warm relations. The change came after the "Islamic Revolution” of the Ayatollahs, based on an imperialist, fanatical ideology that has taken the country back to the Middle Ages, an ideology that suppresses and grossly violates the human rights of the Iranian people, that intends to export the "revolution” through the means of terrorism to the Middle East and the world and seeks to destroy – not only rhetorically, but also by military means – The State of Israel. Iran has developed a military machine around Israel based on proxy organizations: Hezbollah in Lebanon in the north, Hamas in Gaza in the southwest, the Shiite militias of Iraq and Syria in the east, and the Houthis in Yemen in the south – they are all nothing more than Iranian puppets. Following the trends in Iran and the righteous aspiration of the Iranian people for freedom, we are optimistic that once the Islamic regime falls, relations with Iran will return to the traditional warm ties between the Persian and Jewish people.
Could Iran's action be interpreted as a warning shot for a major war to come?
Undoubtedly, Iran has decided to show its capabilities this time. For years, Israel has been warning the democratic world about the threat posed by Iran, but unfortunately no effective steps have been taken. Now that Israel has been attacked with more than 170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles and approximately 30 cruise missiles, we are seeing more action taken, such as the European Council's decision to impose sanctions on Iran. But that is not enough. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard should be declared a terrorist organization.
Iran's actions are not only against Israel, they seek to destabilize the entire world. For example – trade and economic relations: 13% of the world's maritime transport passes through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the main shipping route from the Far East to Europe and the United States. The blockade of the entry of ships into the Red Sea by Tehran's puppets, the Houthis, mainly threatens Jordan's only port - Aqaba and Egypt's work on the Suez Canal. Needless to say, Iran is completely indifferent to the risk to human lives, such as the Bulgarian sailors, who are still held hostage by the said Iranian proxy. Therefore, the conflict is not limited to Israel at all. Israel is only a pretext intended to attract the support of the Arab world to Tehran's expansionist policy, but contrary to that – moderate Arab countries agree with Israel and together see Iran as a common threat and enemy.
The world public denounced the Palestinian group "Hamas” and the attack on October 7 fully justified. Israel suffered victims and hostages, but on the other side, a real "Armageddon" occurred. Was the Israeli military's response to the October 7 attack proportionate?
This is an important question, but before I answer: have you ever asked this question in relation to another armed conflict, or am I correct that the term "proportionality“ is it only spoken when it comes to israel? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall American or British ambassadors being asked about the proportionality of their armies' military operations in Iraq and Syria against Daesh or in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda, for example. Then they were fighting their enemies 3000 km from their own countries, not 300 meters from their homes. When this issue is raised against Israel's military operation, the intent is to limit Israel's right to self-defense and ensure that we are fighting with one hand tied behind our back. In other words – Israel is required to wage war, but not to win it. Having cleared that up, I want to answer your question in full.
Years ago, states regulated the laws of armed conflict in a broad set of rules. The idea was not to deprive a state of its right of self-defense, a basic principle derived from common sense and thus protected by international law, but to impose some rules for the application of that right. One of these rules is the principle of "proportionality", which prohibits the launching of an attack when the expected incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, or damage to civilian objects would be excessive in relation to the specific and direct military advantage expected from the attack. In no way "proportionality“ does not mean mirror revenge: you kill one of us, so we kill one of you.
The legitimate overall objectives of the Israeli military action are to secure the release of the 133 hostages still being held in Gaza in violation of all international humanitarian law, including two hostages of Bulgarian origin, and to eliminate Hamas' ability to attack Israel and its citizens again. To achieve these goals, the Israel Defense Forces must be able to destroy Hamas military assets, targeting terrorists, depriving the enemy of the capability and infrastructure through which it commands and controls its operations, neutralizing the extensive network of underground tunnels used for military purposes , and destroying positions that threaten IDF ground forces.
The law of armed conflict provides that the assessment of proportionality is based on the judgment of the military commander at the time of the attack, not retrospectively: the test is either conduct-oriented or intent-oriented – not to the result. As a matter of law, civilian casualties or damage to civilian objects, while always tragic, do not in themselves lead to a conclusion about the proportionality of a military action without a thorough assessment of both the expected civilian casualties and the military advantage expected at the time of the attack. To claim otherwise contravenes the international laws of war, seriously undermining the state's right to self-defense against such a heinous, unprecedented terrorist attack as was perpetrated against Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Israel Defense Forces are facing an urban warfare that no army has ever faced before. We are fighting a brutal, immoral terrorist organization that attacks by hiding behind its own population, hiding in hundreds of kilometers of military tunnels, leaving civilians at risk above ground. Urban warfare experts say this warfare will be studied by modern armies in the future because of the unprecedentedly low ratio of terrorists to civilians killed compared to any other war. Israel does everything it can to protect innocent civilians and strictly complies with international and humanitarian law.
Your opinion about the victims in the Gaza Strip - nearly 35,000, of which 15,000 are women and children?
These are unconfirmed numbers based on information published by a terrorist organization seeking to serve its own goals. It is indeed true and not denied by Israel that there are civilian casualties, a terrible result of our imposed war. As a democratic country, we consider any loss of innocent life a tragedy; while for Hamas they are part of its cynical strategy seeking to exert international pressure on Israel. This is another reason to seriously question the statistics being published, which thorough analysis has declared to be dubious and unlikely. As I said earlier, Israel faces a unique war in urban settings and invests a lot of effort in minimizing the civilian tragedy that is inevitable in any armed conflict. And let's not forget: there was no war on October 6, and the war will stop soon after our 133 hostages are freed and Hamas lays down its weapons.
How will the humanitarian catastrophe, hunger, lack of water and inhuman living conditions in the enclave be solved?
The humanitarian problem in Gaza is a result of the military conflict that was imposed on Israel during the October 7 massacre, and which we did not seek. Israel has designated a special IDF detachment (Agency for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, COGAT) which closely monitors the humanitarian situation and the needs of the civilian population in Gaza and coordinates humanitarian activities with relevant international actors and agencies. Israel is facilitating the entry of shipments and additional aid to Gaza from Egypt and is working to significantly increase this aid.
Today, far more food and supplies are entering Gaza than before the war. Israel does this despite Hamas taking over much of the essential supplies and cutting off its civilians from access to them, as well as creating a black market at staggering prices to deepen its control over the civilian population. In addition, the IDF, through the coordination of COGAT, endorsed joint efforts for the new Joint Logistics Over the Shore initiative led by United States Central Command. The initiative will create an improved ship-to-shore distribution system to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel is not waging a war against the people of Gaza, only against Hamas.
Don't you think the Israeli right is more to blame for these bloody results. If the leftists, the dynasty of Ishaq Ravin, were in power, wouldn't it be better?
Rabin's times were different times. The Oslo Accords were negotiated in the early 1990s and signed in 1994, just a few years after the fall of the Iron Curtain and at a time when the world was looking forward to a new era of peace. Influenced by these ripples, Israel wanted to believe that a deal with the PLO, a Palestinian terrorist organization at some point, would lead to peace. Unfortunately, reality has shown and still shows that the Palestinians have not given up on their dream of destroying the Jewish state. In the last 30 years, since Rabin and Peres signed the Oslo Accords, Palestinian society has gone through a process of Islamic radicalization. Without democratic values, without democratic institutions, without human rights. Even more dangerous is the Palestinian education system, which has become increasingly radicalized since 2015 and today glorifies the killing of Jews and preaches "jihad", a return to the "historical homeland" and indoctrinated young children with a false history. I completely and utterly disagree that the Israeli right wing is to blame for these bloody results. We are still waiting for the waves of change in Palestinian society. Unfortunately, we haven't seen them yet.
The world, including Israel, had golden opportunities two decades ago to resolve this conflict peacefully and for people on both sides to have a different future. Why is Israel refusing to implement the most important UN Resolution 242?
It is easy to blame Israel for this conflict, but in fact, and as I said earlier, it was based and still is based on the Palestinian long historical rejection of any solution. In fact, two decades ago, as you mentioned, it was Prime Minister Barak who offered a very generous offer. Then President Clinton offered Yasser Arafat a Palestinian state – but the Palestinian leader refused his offer. Now there would have been a Palestinian state for more than 23 years, but it was rejected by them, just as the 1947 UN partition plan was rejected by the Arabs, just as the proposals were rejected in 1967 by the Arab League. This is a long-standing trend of rejection by the Arab side. The late Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Evan once said: the Palestinians never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. He is still right to this day.
Israel has also taken many painful steps to further peace. In 2005, Israel withdrew its entire population, including the buried bodies, from settlements in the Gaza Strip. We left them all the infrastructure, including modern greenhouses that could provide them with an abundance of fresh food. Everything was looted and destroyed by Hamas in a few weeks.
The goal of the Palestinians has always been the same: the destruction of the State of Israel. Not building our own state, side by side in peace with the Jewish state.
Hamas has said it is willing to agree to a five-year truce with Israel to disarm and become a political party if a Palestinian state is recognized within the pre-1967 borders. Would Israel accept such a condition?< /strong>
Hamas is a terrorist organization recognized as such by the democratic world. Its founding charter is genocidal and calls for the destruction of Israel and the killing of every Jew throughout the land. While we hope they have become more pragmatic and prefer to rule their people instead of slaughtering us, Hamas prepared for years and carried out the most horrific massacre the Jews have experienced since the Holocaust, while using the most horrific means of torture , suffering and kidnapped hundreds of civilians. Recently, they have been rejecting agreements for a ceasefire and the release of convicted Palestinian prisoners in exchange for our abductees, many of whom are citizens of other countries, including Bulgaria. Hamas must be defeated. They are part of the problem, not the solution. They are not a legitimate participant and should not be considered as such.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the 7 September attack that escalated into war. Is this destruction real? If Hamas becomes a political group or transforms into another, what do we do then?
Just as IS cannot become a legitimate political group, neither can Hamas, which is the Palestinian branch of IS.
Would Israel allow the establishment of a Palestinian state?
I think it is very early to talk about a Palestinian state now. It would be a big mistake to give a reward for the October 7 massacre. I am sure that when you ask about the "Two State Solution", as the slogan goes, you mean that you want to see two countries living in peace side by side. But for that we need a radical change in Palestinian thinking. For the past 18 years, Gaza had borders, they had the full ability to govern their own lives, and look what we got in return. Is this the future we want to give our children? Is this what we mean when you talk about the "two-state solution”?
How do you view the model – a common state in which the two peoples can live together in peace and understanding, on the model of South Africa. Is such a scenario possible?
As you know, the Palestinians have their own private UN refugee organization that supports the conflict – UNRWA. This is the only case in history where a refugee is born as such, even if several generations before him were born in the same place. This leads to the absurd result that American billionaire Mohammed Hadid and his two daughters Gigi and Bella are still considered "Palestinian refugees". It was not the case with the 850,000 Jewish refugees who fled from Arab countries, or the Greek refugees, or many, many others. This privileged status is reserved ONLY for Palestinians; in any other case, the second generation is no longer considered a refugee. Israel was created as the homeland of the Jewish people. We have no intention of changing it.
Is there a chance to resolve this long-standing conflict? Will there ever be peace in the holy lands? The whole world community is asking - isn't it time for mothers' tears to stop from all countries?
Absolutely and I hope one day we have a partner for this vision.