Morton Klein to Newsmax: Hezbollah Using 'Pretext' for Israel Bombing

Hezbollah is using the assassination of senior Cmdr. Fuad Shukr as a "pretext" for launching its latest missile attack on Israel, Morton Klein, the national president of the Zionist Organization of America, told Newsmax, Sunday.

"Hezbollah has launched over 30,000 rockets in the last 20 years for no reason at all; they just launch them whenever they feel like it," Klein said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend." "So if Israel didn't kill this terrible, monstrous terrorist leader, they would still be launching rockets."

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese group, said it fired 320 Katusha rockets toward Israel Sunday and claimed to hit 11 military targets in the first phase in its retaliation for Shukr's death.

The Israeli military, though, said it stopped a much larger attack, using pre-emptive airstrikes after it assessed that Hezbollah was preparing their hit. It reported using 100 jets that hit more than 40 Hezbollah launch sites located in southern Lebanon.

Klein said Israel did the "right thing" with the pre-emptive strikes.

"If Lebanon responds, there will be an open conflagration," he said. "There will be a significant escalation in the war because Israel has no choice but to protect their civilians."

Iran, meanwhile, is the "culprit" since it funds Hezbollah.

"Had we in America not funded Iran with $26 billion, ignoring sanctions that enabled them to make $100 billion from oil, Iran couldn't be funding and arming Hamas and Hezbollah," said Klein. "They're the ones directing Hezbollah what to do. If Hezbollah doesn't respond in any significant way, it'll be over temporarily. It's up to Hezbollah."

The cease-fire negotiations are continuing with Hamas, but Klein said the terrorist group won't make a deal without Israel agreeing to a permanent cease-fire.

"And now their leader, [Yahya] Sinwar, said 'You must promise not to kill me,'" said Klein.

But Israel can't agree to a permanent cease-fire because their mission has not been completed to destroy Hamas, he added.

"Not only that, but Hamas says they'll only release one-third of the hostages if there's a cease-fire, not even all of them, and they said half the ones they release will be dead," said Klein.

In other matters, Klein on Sunday said it was "disturbing" that virtually none of the speakers at last week's Democratic National Convention condemned pro-Palestinian protesters' "outrageous lies that Israel is committing genocide."

"It is Hamas that wants to commit genocide," Klein said. "It's outrageous that they weren't condemning them for saying they want to globalize the intifada in their signs. That means they want to murder every Jew and every American on earth and this wasn't being condemned."

He said he also found it "shocking" that Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris said she understands the protesters' emotions.

"She's encouraging, energizing, and legitimizing these protesters," said Klein. "And [Joe] Biden in his speech said, I think these protesters have a point. Really? They have a point. You mean to destroy Israel and murder every Jew? I don't think so. This was very disappointing to me as an American and especially as a Jew."

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