[ad_1]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday defended his decision not to launch a large-scale military campaign in the Gaza Strip in response to a mbadive barrage of rocket and mortar attacks earlier this month, claiming that it would cost the country too much.
The Prime Minister, who also serves as Minister of Defense, Foreign Affairs, Health and Social Protection, made the statement to a group of new Israeli Defense Forces recruits at the main training center of the Israel Defense Forces. army, the base of Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv.
"As Prime Minister, what concerns me is that I know there are no" free "wars or" free "victims. There is always a price to pay, and the price is very high, and I still think about that price, "he said.
Receive the daily edition of the Times of Israel by email and never miss our best stories
Free registration
The prime minister has been severely criticized by the government's decision not to launch a wider military campaign in the Gaza Strip after terrorist groups in the coastal enclave fired about 500 rockets and mortar shells at local authorities. Israeli cities close, killing one and injuring many others.
In response, the Israeli army bombed about 160 targets linked to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups, leaving seven dead, most of whom were subsequently identified as members of terrorist groups, some launching projectiles. on Israel at the time of being killed.
Avigdor Liberman announces his resignation from the defense portfolio at a press conference in Jerusalem on November 14, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman resigned one day after the entry into force of a de facto ceasefire, citing in particular the government's policy towards Gaza and Gaza. of its Islamist rulers – Hamas -.
Before the outbreak of this month, Netanyahu had told the press that he considered that another war in the Gaza Strip – the fourth in ten years – was unnecessary and that he preferred to conclude a long-term ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
However, addressing the new recruits to the Armed Forces of the Israel Defense Forces, the prime minister stressed that Israel must also be ready to attack.
"When a war is inevitable, we will use all our strength and all our power, and do it in the best possible way," said Netanyahu. "We know that the ultimate goal of the army is above all to defend our country and, if we have to, to win the war," he said. "In the end, you do not win just by the defense, but we win by attacking."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a group of new recruits at the Army Initiation Center in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, on November 26, 2018. (Ariel Hermoni / Ministry of Defense)
As of Monday, the de facto ceasefire concluded on November 13 appeared to be in force, only relatively minor violent incidents have occurred along the border.
The Egyptian army, as well as the United Nations and Qatar, played a key role in these negotiations.
Likud MP Tzachi Hanegbi at a meeting of the Committee of Defense and Foreign Affairs at the Knesset. November 19, 2015. (Miriam Alster / Flash90)
Netanyahu's Likud ministerial colleague, Tzachi Hanegbi, said last week that a major offensive in Gaza would cost 500 soldiers lives.
When told in an interview with the army radio that a Hamas rocket had hit an empty kindergarten, Hanegbi replied, "The kindergarten is empty – we still talk about it. But those 500 coffins – young Israelis who would come back if we sent them in [Gaza’s] Jabalaya [refugee camp] – would not be empty. "
[ad_2]
Source link
