Gantz: Israel must first and foremost restore deterrence
“There is nothing new about the rockets. The State of Israel is losing its deterrence, and we are seeing the weakness of he who is perceived as a security minister,” a Blue and White MK said.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFA ball of fire is seen during Israeli air strikes in Gaza May 4, 2019(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)
Politicians slammed Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies for handling the Gaza Strip on Saturday, as a barrage of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets hit Gaza border communities and the cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod on Saturday.“The Israeli government must restore deterrence, and only then must it act for long-term arrangements without security compromises and without extortion,” Blue and White Party head Benny Gantz said. “We are counting on the IDF, and commend the residents of the southern communities for their strength.”“200 rockets were fired at Israel since this morning,” Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter. “Netanyahu’s fifth government will not know how to handle it. Precisely for the same reason that Netanyahu’s first, second, third and fourth governments did not know how to handle it.”“Either Netanyahu does not have a policy on Gaza, or he has one – abandoning the residents of the south in favor of strengthening Hamas to prevent a diplomatic process with the PA,” Blue and White MK Ofer Shelah said.Shelah added, “Either way, the residents of the Gaza border communities are victims of the prime minister’s cynicism and weakness.”Labor MK Stav Shafir asked, “Does the Netanyahu government have any idea how to get us out of endless rounds of terrorism? No. Netanyahu admitted that the strategy is to strengthen Hamas in order to prevent a two-state solution. That’s what happens when corrupt extremists rule without any sense of national responsibility.”Labor MK Amir Peretz added, this is “another Saturday morning of missiles and running to shelters in the Gaza border communities, Ashkelon surroundings, and a national leadership that continues with its failed attempts to manage reality instead of changing it.“There is nothing new about the rockets. The State of Israel is losing its deterrence, and we are seeing the weakness of he who is perceived as a security minister,” Blue and White MK Meir Cohen said.“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu works day and night to safeguard the security of the State of Israel. If you have nothing to contribute, at least do not interrupt,” Likud MK Michal Shir defended Netanyahu.
