Photo: AFP
The world awaits as Israel gets ready to send troops into Gaza and wipe out Hamas. Public opinion around the world is predominantly in the corner of the Israelis, but ABC News political analyst Steve Roberts feels that could change as the hunt for the Hamas terrorists drags on. Speaking on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program, Roberts stated that America’s unwavering support for its only ally in the Middle East might have limits.
“I do think that American support for Israel is strong,” Roberts opined with Berman and Riedel. “Part of that is… the images of the slaughter of innocent Israeli citizens that horrified the world… but that’s about to change. The images are about to change from slaughtered Israels to suffering Palestinians, and when those images change, I think public opinion can shift as well. I don’t think the basic support for Israel is going to shift… (because) they’re putting their security concerns first, second and third, and Israel has always done that and has a right to do that, but they are going to pay a major price in terms of public opinion, I think.”
Sadly, Roberts sees the Israeli approach to Gaza as a trap that Hamas will gladly exploit for its nefarious purposes. “When they tell their own people, ‘Don’t flee from northern Gaza and stay in your homes,’ they’re saying, ‘Stay in your homes to get killed by Israelis so that we can have those images”. So, it’s a totally cynical strategy on their part of Hamas to use civilians for propaganda purposes, but Israel is about to roll those tanks over that border and right into that trap.”
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