WATCH: Netanyahu Brands CNN, New York Times Reporting on Hamas 'Fake News'
05-09-2017
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked several news organizations, including CNN and the New York Times, for reporting that Hamas now accepts the existence of Israel and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Last week, Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, announced an amendment to its charter that sounded to some like a major change. It now says it accepts the idea of a Palestinian state that would fall within the borders that existed in 1967, before Israel took control of the West Bank, Gaza and all of Jerusalem.
The terror group's founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews worldwide.
Netanyahu slammed the media for suggesting last week's change was significant.
"Ever wonder what 'fake news' is?" Netanyahu asked in a new video. "Last week, headlines in CNN, Al Jazeera and the Guardian said that Hamas now accepts a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines," Netanyahu said. "The New York Times headline called this 'moderation.' The intimation is that Hamas now accepts the State of Israel," Netanyahu continued.
The Israeli leader called the reporting a "complete distortion of the truth." He said that the new Hamas document still says "Israel has no right to exist" and "every inch" of the country "belongs to the Palestinians."
Netanyahu said Hamas wants a smaller state now to destroy Israel later.
"Is moving from calling for genocide of all Jews to calling just for the annihilation of Israel, is that progress or moderation?" Netanyahu asked. "Only if you have no standards whatsoever."
Netanyahu finished the video by picking up a copy of the Hamas document and tossing it into the trash.
