Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is an fascinating man. He’s a former IDF chief of workers who, as PM, was ready handy Yasser Arafat 97 % of the West Financial institution in 2000 solely to get the Second Intifada and for his Labor Occasion to by no means to carry energy once more. On Monday’s PBS Amanpour and Firm, he fought with the eponymous host on the supposed lack of proof the IDF has offered to justify preventing on the Al-Shifa Hospital advanced.
Along with the tunnels revealed not too long ago by the IDF, Barak claimed that the explanation Israel is definite there are bunkers beneath the ability is as a result of it initially constructed a few of them and they’re now being misused by Hamas. This little bit of historical past shook Amanpour, “Properly, whenever you say it was constructed by Israeli engineers, did you misspeak?”
Barak was adamant that he didn’t, “No, no. , many years in the past, we have been working the place. So, we held them. It is a decade, many many years in the past, in all probability 5 — 4 many years in the past, that we helped them to construct these bunkers so as to allow more room for the operation of the hospital throughout the very restricted measurement of this compound.”
Maybe with that in thoughts, Amanpour then recommended that Israel has not proved something but, “Properly, that is, that form of thrown me somewhat bit. So, these have been there for an extended, very long time, however you are claiming, or they’re claiming, that they are used as a significant command heart. Anyway, the very fact of the matter is, that as but they haven’t proven conclusive proof of that. So, might I ask you what you –”
The model of Barak that was the uniformed head of the IDF then interrupted to level out a really apparent level, “Wait a minute. It is not straightforward. We take care to not damage the operation of the hospital. So, we warned for a lot of days that we’re going to come there. Then we got here very shut, very cautiously so as to keep away from a lack of life among the many medical doctors, the sufferers or the, or the nurses there.”
Resulting from these issues, “Hamas had on a regular basis on this planet to attempt to clear it, to attempt to erase it, to attempt to make it much less sort of obvious whenever you come into that it was in use. However we’re assured — I can’t go into all of the intelligence we have got. We’re assured that, for years, it’s already used as a sort of main or non-major, however as a command publish for Hamas actions within the northern a part of the Gaza Strip.”
There’s a lesson for the media in right here that isn’t solely how individuals on the run have a tendency to clean proof of their earlier presence. It’s that here’s a man of the left, who was genuinely (if perhaps considerably naively) dedicated to peace with the Palestinians, who actually doesn’t like the present prime minister, saying the identical issues.
Here’s a transcript for the November 20 present:
PBS Amanpour and Firm
11/20/2023
11:04 PM ET
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Properly, whenever you say it was constructed by Israeli engineers, did you misspeak?
EHUD BARAK: No, no. , many years in the past, we have been working the place. So, we held them. It is a decade, many many years in the past, in all probability 5 — 4 many years in the past, that we helped them to construct these bunkers so as to allow more room for the operation of the hospital throughout the very restricted measurement of this compound.
AMANPOUR: Okay. All proper. Properly, that is, that form of thrown me somewhat bit. So, these have been there for an extended, very long time, however you are claiming, or they’re claiming, that they are used as a significant command heart. Anyway, the very fact of the matter is, that as but they haven’t proven conclusive proof of that. So, might I ask you what you –
BARAK: OK. Christiane.
AMANPOUR: Yeah.
BARAK: Christiane.
AMANPOUR: Sure.
BARAK: Wait a minute. It is not straightforward. We take care to not damage the operation of the hospital. So, we warned for a lot of days that we’re going to come there. Then we got here very shut, very cautiously so as to keep away from a lack of life among the many medical doctors, the sufferers or the, or the nurses there.
So, because of it, the Hamas had on a regular basis on this planet to attempt to clear it, to attempt to erase it, to attempt to make it much less sort of obvious whenever you come into that it was in use. However we’re assured — I can’t go into all of the intelligence we have got. We’re assured that, for years, it’s already used as a sort of main or non-major, however as a command publish for Hamas actions within the northern a part of the Gaza Strip.
