Thursday, September 12, 2019

Netanyahu: War In Gaza Likely Inevitable


Netanyahu: War in Gaza to topple Hamas likely inevitable




Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Israel would likely be forced to go to war in Gaza in the near future following spiraling tensions on the southern front in recent weeks.
“There probably won’t be a choice but to launch an operation, a war with the terror forces in Gaza,” the prime minister said in a radio interview with the Kan public broadcaster, kicking off a media blitz five days before the national elections. “There probably won’t be a choice but to topple the Hamas regime. Hamas doesn’t exert its sovereignty in the Strip and doesn’t prevent attacks.”
“We have a situation in which a terror group that launches rockets has taken over, and doesn’t rein in rogue factions even when it wants to,” Netanyahu said of the Hamas terror group, which has ruled the Strip since it took over in a bloody coup in 2007, and which openly seeks Israel’s destruction. It has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.

Rockets have been fired at Israeli cities and communities multiple times over the past week — with most intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system or landing in open areas — drawing retaliatory Israeli airstrikes. On Tuesday night, two rockets were launched at Ashdod during a campaign rally in the city by Netanyahu, forcing the premier to be briefly shepherded off the stage by bodyguards to take shelter.

“Israel’s citizens know very well that I act responsibly and reasonably, and we will start an operation at the right time, which I will determine,” said Netanyahu, who is also defense minister.

Hinting that more “complex” military moves would possibly precede such a war, Netanyahu said a military confrontation was “a last resort. I don’t endanger our soldiers and civilians to get applause.”

In the interview, Netanyahu also addressed the possibility of an imminent meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani,

“I have influence over Trump. You can’t dictate to the president of the United States who to meet. There is nobody who has influenced or is influencing the offensive strategy on Iran more than yours truly.”

Trump has increasingly signaled openness to such a meeting with the Iranian president. Rouhani, meanwhile, has demanded US sanction relief as a precondition to talks with the White House.


Following his campaign pledge Tuesday to annex the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank if elected, Netanyahu confirmed that he had wanted to extend Israeli sovereignty to the area two weeks ago, but Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit told him a transitional government such as the one currently running the country could not legally take such a step.




Hamas lauds rocket attack as spooking Netanyahu, shaking Israel's image



The Hamas terror group on Wednesday gloated over a rocket attack the night before which forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to interrupt a live broadcast of a campaign speech while he took cover, saying the missiles had struck at the heart of Israel and shaken its image.
“Everyone saw Netanyahu fleeing because of the resistance’s strikes,” Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar told the Gaza-based Dunya al-Watan news site. “This incident is significant because the resistance has made it all the way to the heart of the Israeli occupation and Netanyahu. This is something that has shaken Israel’s image.”
Two rockets were fired at Ashdod and nearby Ashkelon from Gaza on Tuesday evening. Both were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Israeli jets targeted 15 sites in the Gaza Strip in retaliation overnight.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has not taken responsibility for the attack. Though other Gaza terror groups possess rockets, Israel holds Hamas responsible for such attacks.
For many of his domestic political rivals, the scenes of Netanyahu being whisked away by a group of bodyguards provided a counterpoint to the image he has attempted to cultivate as Mr. Security, highlighting what critics say is his government’s failure to deal with attacks from Gaza terror groups.
On Wednesday Netanyahu accused his rivals in the Blue and White party of “gloating” over the incident like the Palestinians in Gaza.
“I heard the cries of joy of [Blue and White’s Yair] Lapid and [Benny] Gantz,” said Netanyahu. “I don’t know where there was more excitement, in Gaza or among Lapid and Gantz… For shame.”
Top Likud officials defended the prime minister and the Shin Bet security agency’s response.
“A low point of the elections: Three former IDF chiefs of staff are gloating over fire at the prime minister. Shameful,” the prime minister’s party tweeted, referring to Blue and White’s triumvirate of lieutenants-general: Gantz, Ashkenazi and Moshe Ya’alon.

The rocket fire came as Netanyahu was about to begin a speech to Likud supporters in Ashdod a week before Israelis head to the polls. The event was broadcast live on Facebook.
In the extraordinary scene captured on video, Netanyahu was hustled away from the stage by a gaggle of security guards as sirens sounded.
“Leave quietly,” Netanyahu told the crowd before calmly walking off the stage.
He returned minutes later to resume his speech.
As prime minister, Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israel Radio on Wednesday morning, Netanyahu “must follow the Shin Bet’s orders and must be evacuated to a bomb shelter. He has no discretion [on the matter].”
But right-wing rivals also slammed the premier.
Yamina party member Naftali Bennett called the incident a “national humiliation,” adding: “Hamas has stopped fearing Israel. Israel’s security will be reinstated by assassinating Hamas chiefs, not press conferences.” Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman said it underlined that Netanyahu’s Gaza policy was bankrupt.

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