CNN Anchor Asks Top Republican If Netanyahu Is Needlessly Prolonging Gaza War to Stay In Power: The ‘Hostages Stay Longer’

CNN anchor Dana Bash spoke to Republican Senator John Thune (R-SD), the number-ranking GOP senator, and asked him on Wednesday to react to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech and speculation that Netanyahu was needlessly prolonging the war in Gaza in order to stay in power.

“First, generally speaking, your reaction to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks?” Bash asked Thune.

“Strong speech. And, as as is usually the case with the Prime minister, very well articulated. And I thought he hit all the right points, Dana. I think the one thing that he needs to do for people in this country, and for that matter, people, all around the world, is connect the dots back to Iran. And the fact that Israel is the only thing standing between Iran and the United States, which they consider to be the great Satan,” Thune replied.

The conversation turned to the protestors in DC before Bash asked, “Senator, one of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s predecessors, Ehud Barak, who we understand and we should tell our viewers who might not know, is not from the same party as Prime Minister Netanyahu. But nonetheless, he has somebody he’s somebody who has been intimately involved in trying to get to peace. He almost got there, when Bill Clinton had him and Yasser Arafat in 2000, here in the United States, he said very, very strongly and very clearly to Wolf that he does not believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu actually wants to end the war because it would mean the end of his own political viability at home.”

“And that might even mean, that hostages stay longer. Are you concerned about I mean, you’re a politician, you understand what’s going on in Israel? Are you concerned about the notion that Bibi Netanyahu isn’t trying as hard as he can to get this deal because of his own concerns about his own future?” she said.

Thune replied, “I don’t think that. I’ve met with him in Israel. I’ve met with, Ehud Barak in Israel, previously as well. And obviously they have, political differences there. But those aside, my sense coming out of this was, is he is desperate to end this because this is putting the lives of Israeli citizens at risk every single day. And he talked about in the north, where Hezbollah is threatening Israeli homes and citizens there, and they’re just surrounded on every side. He wants to end this. What happens politically in Israel after this? I don’t think anybody can really speculate about that at the moment.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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