Thank you very much. Let s start with that concept of a multi front war. Israel is, of course, at war in gaza. It s at war in lebanon now, and it is in a de facto war with iran, which is unfolding day by day. In your view, are any of those fronts avoidable, or is all of this unavoidable? well, you can add the houthis in yemen, you can add some militias in iraq and in syria. So, it s actually. . . And we have some problems in the west bank as well. So, it s a really a big mess now. Yeah. But in your view, as a security veteran with long years of service in special forces, and then, of course, as director of the mossad intelligence agency, is netanyahu in a place where he inevitably had to be, or is some of this avoidable? well, you know, it s a bit hard to say. If we rememberjust a year ago when the hamas started their attack, their murderous attack, immediately hezbollah joined the party. As you remember, and a week later, the houthis started their block on the bab el mandeb strait, an
Words. Its beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see and god forbid, experience. A baby, an infant riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people burned alive in their cars or in their hideaway rooms. I could go on. But its simply depravity in the worst imaginable way. It almost defies comprehension. When you see this, you try to imagine, maybe not try, you ca help but imagine yourself, your family, your loved ones, your friends, in that situation. In that predicament. And maybe the best word for it for me is overwhelming. It is also hard and bad for the innocent people in gaza. And it is getting worse there by the hour. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing to kill every Single Member of hamas. And in the effort to root them out, the idf says they have dropped about 6,000 bombs weighing more than 4,000 tons on gaza. Leveling entire neighborhoods. Here is a flier one civilian sent to nbc news. The israeli army dropped them in northern gaza, Warn
Put the words israel and apartheid in the same sentence, and you are stepping into a political minefield. Write a un report and accuse israel of systematically implementing apartheid policies, well, you can be sure there will be a diplomatic explosion. My guest today, rima khalaf, did just that, and promptly resigned from her un post, when the Secretary General refused to accept her work. Her motives have been widely questioned. So lets ask her what were they . Rima khalaf, welcome to hardtalk. Pleasure to be here. Now that the dust has settled for a few weeks on this episode, of you, the report you commissioned on israel, and apartheid, you have had some time to reflect on it all. Do you have regrets about the way you handled it . No, actually, not at all. First let me explain that i did not commission the report because i wanted to commission a report. Escwa, or the un economic and social commission for western asia, is an intergovernmental body. We are an intergovernmental agency. A
Put the words israel and apartheid in the same sentence, and you are stepping into a political minefield. Write a un report and accuse israel of systematically implementing apartheid policies, well, you can be sure there will be a diplomatic explosion. My guest today, rima khalaf, did just that, and promptly resigned from her un post, when the Secretary General refused to accept her work. Her motives have been widely questioned. So lets ask her what were they . Rima khalaf, welcome to hardtalk. Pleasure to be here. Now that the dust has settled for a few weeks on this episode, of you, the report you commissioned on israel, and apartheid, you have had some time to reflect on it all. Do you have regrets about the way you handled it . No, actually, not at all. First let me explain that i did not commission the report because i wanted to commission a report. Escwa, or the un economic and social commission for western asia, is an intergovernmental body. We are an intergovernmental agency. A