?W. Bank will become another Gaza if peace talks stop?Category: Featured Headlines
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL AND JPOST.COM STAFF
http://myjwn.com/Source: Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert emphasized Monday that the latest operation in Gaza was by no means the last.?We are in a state of war; the operation was not a one-off. It?s not the first time we?ll be going in or coming out,? he told the Knesset?s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,
?I won?t say what we are planning in the future, because I don?t want to give our enemies a chance to prepare, but all the options are on the table. They?ll know it when they feel it,? continued Olmert.
Nevertheless, the prime minister stressed that Israel had to maintain the diplomatic track with the Palestinian Authority. ?There is a leadership now in the West Bank that wants peace in a way that even Arab leaders we previously negotiated with and embraced didn?t want it?, the prime minister said. ?Absence of negotiations would lead to a ?Gazaization? of the West Bank, and anyone who can?t see this is lying to himself,? he added.
Referring to criticism of the IDF operations, Olmert added that ?Israel has a duty to protect its citizens. No population should have to live with a constant threat of rockets. In the past, the international community had patience with Israel and understood that it needed to protect itself. No one in the world can find us at fault for trying to protect our population.?
Concerning calls for him to increase Israeli efforts in the international media, Olmert said: ?Whoever thinks that an appearance on television will silence international criticism is greatly mistaken.?
Also at the meeting, the deputy head of the Military Intelligence Research Division said that the 20 Grad missiles fired at Ashkelon from Gaza were Iranian-made.
He went on to say that Palestinians do not hesitate to use populated areas for their terror activities. He noted that a terrorist and his family were living on the floor above a Kassam rocket lab that was targeted by the IDF in the recent operations in northern Gaza.
The intelligence official also said there were still fears of Hizbullah reprisals following the assassination of terror chef Imad Mugniyeh.
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL AND JPOST.COM STAFF
