George W. Bush on Israel-Hamas battle: ‘One side is guilty. And it’s not Israel’

Former President George W. Bush gave his first public feedback on the Hamas terror assault on Israel, warning that “it’s going to be ugly for a while.”

Mr. Bush, who guided the U.S. by way of the September 11 terror assault, instructed presidential historian Mark Updegrove in a personal occasion Tuesday that “we need to support Israel. No ands, ifs, or buts.”

In a video from the occasion in California that was obtained by Axios, Mr. Bush decried the Hamas rampage in Israel as an “unprovoked attack by terrorists.”

“People willing to kill innocent people to achieve an objective,” he mentioned.

Mr. Bush mentioned negotiating just isn’t an choice for Israel.

“These people have played their cards. They want to kill as many Israelis as they can,” he mentioned of Hamas. “Negotiating with killers is not an option for the elected government of Israel.”

“My view is: One side is guilty. And it’s not Israel,” he mentioned.

The former president mentioned that he’s not aware of intelligence info anymore, so he doesn’t know whether or not Iran was concerned, however he mentioned he wouldn’t be shocked in the event that they have been.

Mr. Bush referred to as himself “kind of a hardliner” as a result of he “never thought we should try to accommodate Iran in any way, shape, or form.”

“I always felt the objective ought to be to prevent them from getting nuclear weapons to prevent a cataclysmic event in the Middle East,” he mentioned. “And these are the kind of people that, if you show softness, they will take advantage of it.”

He praised President Biden for his “pretty bold statement” in response to the assault and mentioned that the administration began “off on the right foot.”

Mr. Bush additionally mentioned the response to Hamas and the political fallout can be onerous on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he has recognized for a minimum of 25 years.

“We’ll find out what he’s made of,” he mentioned of the prime minister.

“It’s gonna be awfully difficult on the prime minister, but he’s got to do it,” Mr. Bush mentioned. “He’s got to do this. You’re dealing with cold-blooded killers.”

Thousands of individuals have died from each side, together with greater than two dozen Americans.