Netanyahu: I am going to bring peace for peace - peace through strength - Middle East

Prime Minister prepares for departure to US for historic Abraham Accords, vows to bring 'peace for peace'.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday evening he would bring “peace for peace” during his upcoming diplomatic trip to Washington DC, and touted two upcoming agreements with Gulf Arab states.

“Tonight I am leaving on your behalf for a historic trip to meet with the President of the United States and representatives of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,” Netanyahu said at a press briefing in Jerusalem Sunday evening, speaking shortly after the government approved a second nationwide lockdown, set to begin this Friday afternoon.

Speaking on the eve of his departure for the US to sign the Abraham Accords with the UAE and Bahrain, Netanyahu said the new deals would be signed exclusively on the basis of “peace for peace”, despite concerns on the Israeli Right that Netanyahu could agree to concessions in Judea and Samaria – including promises to back the formation of a Palestinian state.

“I am going to [Washington] to bring peace for peace. Peace through strength – two peace deals in one month. This is a new era of peace which I’ve been working towards for 25 years.”

“These peace deals with include economic peace, and will bring billions of dollars into our economy in investments and economic cooperation. That’s always good, but it is especially good during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Turning to the coronavirus pandemic, Netanyahu touted his handling of the crisis, calling Israel “one of the first” countries to bar entry to non-citizens at the beginning of the pandemic and to impose a complete lockdown.

“And just as we were one of the first to shut down the economy, we were one of the first to reopen it.”

Netanyahu added that while Israel’s economy had contracted significantly during the second quarter of 2020, the decline in GDP was smaller than the contractions suffered by a number of other countries including the US, Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK, and France.

Other countries which had reopened their economies are also beginning to reimpose restrictions, Netanyahu continued, citing the example of Australia’s State of Victoria, Spain, and New Zealand.

Regarding the government's decision to impose a new lockdown, Netanyahu claimed that Israel's hospital system was being overwhelmed.

"I asked the chief of our coronavirus response efforts Prof. Gamzu when we should take serious steps, and he said, 'When the hospitals wave the red flag.'"

"They are overcrowded. This isn't a problem of not enough respirators - we gave them [enough]. This isn't a problem of not having enough beds. We made sure they had enough. This is a problem of the medical teams - these wonderful people - being worn down."

"Then there is the problem of the coming winter, when we could face a multifaceted threat of having not only the coronavirus pandemic, but also a pandemic of the flu. Therefore we are preparing ahead of time."

"Our goal is to stop the increase, to reduce the contagion."