The Custodes Instituut presents an exclusive interview with the Ambassador of Israel to Belgium, Ms. Idit Rosenzweig-Abu. The interview was conducted at the Embassy of Israel in Brussels by Mr. Pepijn L. Demortier, Editor-in-Chief.

CUSTODES: Madame Ambassador, please remind our readers of what happened on Oct. 7^th.

AMBASSADOR ROSENZWEIG-ABU: ‘On Oct. 7^th, thousands of Hamas terrorists broke through the southern border between Gaza and Israel, made their way into villages, went house to house, killing, raping, mutilating, burning and kidnapping hundreds of innocent Israeli citizens. And we know this, not only because of testimonies and medical reports, but because of the videos these terrorists made themselves, using their Go Pro cameras.

I’m sure you’re aware of the 46-minute video that initially was banned from being screened at the Belgian parliament but was later permitted under the auspices of the Mouvement Reformateur (MR) party. These 46 minutes depict the tragic loss of one hundred and thirty-five Israeli lives, representing approximately ten percent of all casualties.

We’ve witnessed the heartbreaking stories of entire families being devastated, such as the Idan family. In one instance, two siblings had to hide in a closet while their parents were brutally killed, and the youngest, four-year-old Avigail, was kidnapped to Gaza, only to be returned after a harrowing forty days. Some families met their end live on Facebook, leaving other members of their families to witness the unimaginable. I could go on; I could go on for a very long time.’  

The main thrust of Hamas’ attack was aimed at civilian, not military targets.

‘Most of them. Most of the casualties, more than 800 out of 1.200 casualties, were civilians. Also Israeli soldiers, but it’s important to note that on October 7th, a ceasefire was in effect between Israel and Hamas. As such, any attacks, even on Israeli soldiers, during this period constituted a violation of international law.

The captured terrorists were unequivocal about their objectives: to infiltrate, causing harm through killing, rape, kidnapping, and arson, targeting events like the music festival and small villages. Their plans extended to larger cities in northern Israel. Their intentions regarding Israeli men, women, and children were very, very clear.’

Hamas is known to honeycomb themselves with its civilian population and use civilian infrastructure for military purposes. A war crime and an effective PR-tactic, as Western leaders are upping the calls for Israel to cease its operations in Gaza.

‘I hear from most parties that “yes, Hamas is terror group” and “yes, what happened on Oct 7^th was an act of terrorism”. But then what? Leaders of Hamas go on television and make clear that Oct 7^th was just a general rehearsal for much bigger things to come, that they will do it again and again. And I do not hear any suggestion from these parties about what Israel should do to prevent a repeat of Oct. 7^th, to prevent a repeat of the mass murder, rape, torture and kidnapping of its own citizens. What do some parties in Belgium in particular offer us that is more than just sitting around and waiting for a new invasion to happen?

Hamas, it seems, is allowed to do anything in this conflict and Israel is allowed to do nothing. Hamas uses its own citizens as human shields, uses civilian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, for military purposes which, by the way, under international law makes them valid military targets. Western governments calling for ceasefires without, for example, demanding the extradition of Hamas’ leadership to be tried for crimes against humanity, show their hand.

Calls for “permanent ceasefires” and “negotiations” are de facto calls for the continuance of the Hamas rule in Gaza. Can you imagine what a wonderful victory that would be for terrorists all over the world? Hamas will have shown the world that Israel is weak, that its people are ripe for the slaughterhouse. And that the West, given enough time, will eventually get on the side of the terrorists and betray its ally.’

Is Israel doing enough to protect civilians in Gaza, Ambassador?

‘Israel grieves the death of any civilian caught up in this war. Of course, why wouldn’t we? That’s the reason Israel is doing the utmost to minimize the number of civilian dead.

You have to remember, if we did not care about the population in Gaza, we could have finished this conflict in one week. Israel has the fire power, the air superiority to finish of Hamas tomorrow. It does not. Why? Because such an offensive would greatly increase the number of dead Gazans not linked to Hamas. We do not want that, we do not accept that this is the only way to win this war, so we put our own soldiers, our own countrymen in mortal danger to go into Gaza and to dismantle Hamas headquarters, to clear out weapon deposits and to eliminate Hamas combatants.

Israel makes individual telephone calls to people in Gaza to warn them of upcoming operations. We drop flyers over densely populated areas to urge them to evacuate because we will be taking out military targets. We create humanitarian corridors which are sometimes blocked by Hamas because they want their people to be human shields for PR-purposes. For thirty-seven days, we begged the World Health Organization to evacuate the Al Shifa Hospital, which doubled as a Hamas military site. Israel does all these things, but nothing we do seems to be enough for some people.   

Israel seems to be subjected to a different set of rules than any other nation when it comes to responding to an act of aggression.

‘I think that’s true, although I don’t have a clear, easy answer on why that is the case. I think people naturally care more about the safety of themselves than about the safety of people they do not identify with. That’s nothing new. I also think there is a lot of political pressure from minorities from Arab countries which are much more supportive of Hamas. And then there is obviously the threat of violence, which is not imagined, but very real.

I don’t know whether a poll conducted by a proper polling firm would show the levels of support for Hamas you might expect when you see the protests and the marches on the streets. But this idea, that a silent majority secretly supports Hamas and condemns Israel, is, I think (and I hope) false.

The media plays a part in setting a one-sided narrative. Check how many times I was invited to interviews and panels in comparison to the Palestinian embassy representatives. Some newspapers would not interview me. They prefer a pro-Palestinian narrative and block anything that might challenge it.

Some in the West, in particular people of a more ‘progressive’ bend, view Israel as a Western, colonial outpost in the Middle East. This might also explain their peculiar treatment of the Israeli State.  

‘You cannot be a colonial entity on a land that is so deeply indigenous to your people. Indigenous in the biblical sense, in the historical sense. The Jewish people are tied to the land of Israel, from the early days of Jesus, through the Middle Ages, through the modern times. There was always a Jewish presence in the State of Israel. So this idea that the Jews are some kind of Western, conquering army that arbitrarily invaded and occupied a small territory in the Middle East is historically illiterate, yes. But it’s actually much worse.

The Jewish people only have one homeland. If not Israel, where are we supposed to go? The modern State of Israel did not start existing in a political and humanitarian vacuum. The Jews who migrated to Israel did so to finally belong to a community where they would not be discriminated against, harassed or murdered. There is only one place on earth where the Jewish people are strong enough to create a safe haven for their community. And right now, many governments are openly telling the Israeli government to lay down, surrender and let the murderous regime of Hamas stay in place. It’s immoral. And It’s deadly.’  

Obviously, not all Palestinians are in favor of Hamas rule, let alone that all of them were in favor of the atrocities committed on Oct 7^th. But what do you make of the claim that only a small percentage of Palestinians support Hamas?

‘(Sighs.) Let’s begin with the electoral victory of Hamas in 2006. That’s a long time ago and it wasn’t even mainly because Hamas was a terror organization, but mostly because they were fed up with the PLO, which was – and is – a corrupt organization. But let’s also not pretend Hamas was at that time a moderate political party which only later, after the election, radicalized. Hamas had always been very clear about its ultimate goal, the destruction of the State of Israel. And the Gazans voted in favor of this proposition.

Today, you see crowds that are supporting Hamas. You can see Hamas parading hostages in the streets, spitting on them, taking pictures with their cell phones. There are also many people who do not support them, because look at what Hamas did to Gaza, look at the mess they made. And it’s true, it’s hard to poll a war zone, so we may not have a perfect picture of what Gazans are thinking right now. But what’s worrying, are the polls coming out of the West Bank, where you can conduct polls and you have over sixty percent of support for Hamas. So I don’t believe the support for Hamas is limited to a minority of the Palestinians. I wish it was, but I don’t think it is.

Hamas could take over the West Bank?

It can be said that Israel is worried about the strengthening of Hamas in the West Bank which has a border with Israel five times as long as the border with Gaza. And it is worried when it hears Jibril Rajub, Secretary General of PLO saying that the 7 October was justified or that Hamas will be a partner in the Palestinian government.

Is the Belgian government doing enough to protect its Jewish citizens?

‘I have heard very few complaints of Jewish citizens living in Belgium in respect of their protection by the Belgian governments. This is, of course, very positive and I am personally grateful for Belgium’s response in this matter. But of course, proper protection only gets you so far. Nobody wants to live in a cage, not even when that cage is well protected. Protection is a temporary measure. Prevention, taking care of the threat, is the most important aspect to stamp out antisemitism in Europe.

A good example: the continued existence of pro-Hamas organizations like “Samidoun” which are outlawed in Germany, in the United States, but are free to organize from within the borders of Belgium. They are openly calling people in Belgium to “support the Palestinian armed resistance” and organize demonstrations where people shout that they would like to become shahid for Mohammed Deif (head of Hamas in Gaza). They cannot continue to exist if a country like Belgium wishes to take the prevention aspect of the battle against terrorism and antisemitism seriously. They just can’t.’

As part of its mission to promote conservative values and policies, the Custodes Instituut shines a spotlight on viewpoints which are underrepresented in mainstream media and culture. These viewpoints do not, however, necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Instituut as such.