STORY: :: Netanyahu says Israelis will "fight with our fingernails"
if they have to after Biden's threat to halt arms shipments
::Location: Jerusalem
::May 9, 2024
::Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister
"We are on the eve of Independence Day. In the War of Independence 76 years ago, we were the few against the many. We did not have weapons. There was an arms embargo on Israel, but with great strength of spirit, heroism and unity among us - we were victorious. Today we are much stronger. We are determined and we are united in order to defeat our enemies and those who want to destroy us. If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that if necessary - we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails and with that same strength of spirit, with God's help, together we will win."
The comments followed U.S. President Joe Biden's warning that the United States would halt weapons supplies if Israel moved into Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
Netanyahu has defied mounting international pressure to agree to a ceasefire but has not so far ordered troops to enter the city, where Israel says four battalions of Hamas fighters are based.
