Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) discussed the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas War, challenging countries that have recognized Palestine as a country to "show me where Israel has been wrong" in its operations in a recent appearance on Fox Business's Varney & Co.
The discussion began with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement of a new offensive in Gaza, the host asking Rep. Mast if he supported the measure.
"Yes," Rep. Mast answered bluntly, adding, "And I think, if you look at these countries that are out there saying, 'Well, we are going to recognize a Palestinian state,' whether it is Australia or whether it is France or someone else, and you really say, 'look, the onus is on you to show me where Israel has been wrong about an offensive that they have conducted.'"
The Florida Congressman continued, "Were they wrong about going into Rafah, killing Sinwar, rescuing hostages, preventing the transfer of weapons from Egypt into the Palestinian area?
"Were they wrong about eliminating Hamas in Lebanon and other places?" Mast kept going, "Would Bashar al-Assad still be in power today if they had not done what they have done? Show me where Israel was actually wrong with beepers or Iran or anything else, and I do not think the rest of the world can give us that example. We need to give Israel the latitude that they need to bring this war to a conclusion where Hamas is defeated."
The host asked the Florida Congressman if he believed that this conclusion in the form of a peace deal was near, to which Mast replied, "I think that is the wrong way to evaluate it."
"We want to be close to that, but it is the wrong evaluation," he explained, "It has to be a defeated enemy, otherwise we just allow ourselves to be in the same cycle that we have been in for the last number of decades, where Hamas conducts an attack, they remain in power, they get their hands on more weapons even though there is a response to it, and then we are back in the same place again in a couple of years. They need to be destroyed, they need to be out of power, they need to be irrelevant."
