Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to form an emergency unity government is "essential" as the country fights to "eradicate" Hamas, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon told Newsmax on Tuesday.
Danon appeared on "Newsline" amid reports that Netanyahu's Likud Party said it was taking "big steps" toward forming a unity government as the country reeled from a war while facing deep internal divisions.
"We have suffered a brutal attack and when we see the pictures of the brutality of the enemy of Hamas, we realize that it's something we were not aware of," Danon told Host Bianca de la Garza. "It's even worse than ISIS was and al-Qaida.
"So we understand we have to come together. I think the idea of a unity government is essential and because we prepare to go on war against Hamas, we intend to eradicate Hamas. We understand that, those kind of barbaric animals, we cannot live with them. We have to fight and eliminate them."
Danon was asked about comments from U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk, who condemned Israel's retaliatory airstrikes into Gaza and added that "sieges" were illegal under international law.
"I have no expectations from the U.N. official," Danon said. "You know, we do get support from many countries around the world who understand what we are facing and actually telling us go all the way, finish the job with [these] barbaric terrorists, so we know we have the support of our allies.
"And with the U.N. I would ask them: What about our humanitarian needs? What about the people who were kidnapped from their homes? And you know, the terrorists, they came in and took kids, the elderly people and they dragged them into Gaza. So with all due respect to the U.N., we're going to have to take care about our security first and then we're going to deal with the request from the U.N."
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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