Rocket found in Netiv HaAsara
Photo: Netiv HaAsara Security
Galant: Israel won't go to war in Gaza over one rocket
Housing and Construction Minister Galant says war should be a last resort: 'when a country goes to war, it should do it at the right time and under the best conditions'; Gabbay: 'We need to bring the PA back to Gaza.'
Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant, a former IDF general who is also a member of the Security Cabinet, explained Sunday why Israel has not gone to war in Gaza after the barrage of rockets
fired by Islamic Jihad.
"I'm aware of the certain impatience the residents feel, and I'm aware of their situation. However, we must not escalate because of one rocket or one incendiary balloon," he added.
"War is the last resort," Galant told Ynet in an interview. "But I think we will eventually get to an extended campaign against Hamas and the Gaza Strip."
Galant stressed that while he doesn't trivialize the suffering of Israelis living under the constant threat of rockets near the Gaza border, "alongside that, when a country goes to war, it should do it at the right time and under the best conditions."
Yoav Galant (Photo: Marc Israel Sellem)
Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay, meanwhile, criticized the government. "When the citizens of the State of Israel are under fire on Friday night, it's intolerable. We mustn't agree to that and we mustn't accept anything like that. We're in this situation because our government did not define where it wants to go. The government is run like a ship manned by drunkards—moving left, right, right, left. They simply have no strategy," he said in an interview with Ynet.
Avi Gabbay (Photo: Avi Mualem)
Gabbay's solution was "for the prime minister to call the IDF chief and discuss a plan on how to bring the Palestinian Authority back into Gaza... we see that in Judea and Samaria, the Palestinian Authority maintains the security, relatively... how do you do this? With diplomatic and economic steps."
Mahmoud Abbas, he said, "is not my cup of tea. But he's saying 'Guys, let me control Gaza, including military control. I'm ready.' He's using this against us to get us there. Our interest is for the Palestinian Authority to control Gaza—not Hamas and not Islamic Jihad."
