Bibi warns of 'Hamastan'
Photo: Ori Porat
Likud: Olmert will bring Hamastan to capital
Likud entourage tours security fence, slams new route; 'We must not bring Hamastan so close to Jerusalem,' says former foreign minister Silvan Shalom; Netanyahu: Olmert's decision endangers thousands of Israelis, acting prime minister does not understand security
Likud Faction members headed by Benjamin Netanyahu embarked on a 'field tour' campaign aimed against the new route of the West Bank security fence, as laid out by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Members of the faction came to Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood in order to view the fence, and continued onwards to a nearby Palestinian village in order to see the electronic fence installed in the area.
During the tour, Netanyahu said, "The unfortunate decision by Olmert to bring the fence to a point where it is 400 meters from the Ramon neighborhood and 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) from Highway 1 shows his lack of experience and understanding in security. This decision endangers thousands of drivers who drive every day on this road. Olmert and his friends have not learned from the failure of a free withdrawal."
'Government of Israel must take needed step'
Former foreign Minister Silvan Shalom demanded that the Labor and Kadima parties unequivocally clarify "whether according to their vision this is the border of the State of Israel? This road and the Ramot neighborhood must be defended in any future arrangement. This will not be the border of the State of Israel. We have not heard from Labor or Kadima up to now any clarification over this issue. This current border stands in the range of fire by the terror organization which took control of the Palestinian Authority a number of days ago."
Shalom reiterated his demand that Olmert go back on his decision to transfer funds to the Palestinian Authority. "The funds will be transferred to pay for teachers in an educational system which exhorts the destruction of Israel. The government of Israel must take the needed step and not transfer funds for the creation of a Hamas army," he said.
Major General (Res.) Yaakov Amidror, who accompanied the tour as a security expert, said, "The danger crouching at our entrance endangers the security of the residents of Jerusalem."
Yuval Steinitz, Chairman of the Knesset's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, said that should the current borders of the security fence be accepted, "the Iranians will be positioned on the fence near Jerusalem."
"We must not bring Hamastan so close to Jerusalem," he said.
