Ofir Akunis, consul general for Israel in New York, told Newsmax on Thursday that the protests surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech in Washington, D.C., have him "worried" about the United States.
"You talked five minutes ago about anti-Israel protesters burn American flag, and I think that the right thing to write is anti-American protesters burn American flag," Akunis told "National Report." "This, I can see the picture, horrific pictures from Union Station five minutes from here in Washington, D.C.
"I don't think that there is any American who can accept it, if he's a Republican or Democrat or independent, this is unacceptable. All the politicians here on Capitol Hill, the lawmakers, must condemn and act against these horrific pictures."
"I'm worried about [the] United States," he said. "I will tell you why, because I think that this is unacceptable. This is not part of the debate about two-state solution, a one-state solution, and all the other debates that we can argue between ourselves. But these pictures? Horrific pictures here, five minutes from the White House."
Akunis also spoke out against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's criticism of Netanyahu's address to Congress that she posted on the social media platform X.
"Totally disagree with Nancy Pelosi," he said. "I don't think that it's appropriate. This is her maybe opinion, but I think the opposite. I think that it was a great speech.
"That was the fourth time that Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to the House, and I think — and I saw his very first in 1996 — that was his best speech. And I think that if Nancy Pelosi, she think bad things about the speech, OK, so she can tweet whatever she wants."
The responsibility of securing a better cease-fire deal is "on the prime minister's shoulders," Akunis said, "and the Israeli cabinet must actually vote for the deal."
"We want a better deal and I will tell something to Nancy Pelosi and the others: We will push, we will actually put the Hamas under pressure and will continue to do it, and then you, Nancy Pelosi, will see much better deal than we know from various sources these days," he said.
"Nobody cares about the hostages better than us," he continued. "Almost every day, I'm talking to the families, almost every day. And I met during actually my service in the Cabinet in Jerusalem, in Tel Aviv, wherever, even in my own apartment, families whose beloved [were] kidnapped by the vicious Hamas terrorist. Hamas kidnapped them and the responsibility of the international community is to say to Hamas, let them go."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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