Politicians from Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich to Interior Minister Eli Yishai
voiced support for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and called to
bring an end to
rocket fire from Gaza, while Meretz accused Netanyahu and
Defense Minister Ehud Barak of talking tough as a pre-election tactic.
“I
back the Netanyahu government and understand the complexities of the situation,
in which military action and restraint are required,” Yacimovich said. “The IDF
does excellent work, and we trust it wholeheartedly.”
The Labor leader
added that she supports those in the line of fire.
Shas minister Yishai said
Gaza has become a terrorist entity, and Israel must treat it as
such.
“The world must know that ships of encouragement to Gaza and the
fact that they ignore what happens in Sderot and towns around Gaza encourages
terror,” he added.
In a meeting with Kenyan parliament members, including
Vice President Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said the
rocket fire proves Israel cannot take risks in the West Bank, because the
distance between Ramallah and Jerusalem is so short that rockets would fall in
the capital.
“It is not our right to defend ourselves, it is a necessity,
Rivlin said. “The Palestinians have yet to prove that they take responsibility
for themselves diplomatically and in security, in a way that would allow the
citizens of Israel and their children to live in security and
peace.”
Likud MK Ofir Akunis called “Cast Lead 2” unavoidable if the
rockets continue falling, saying “Gaza will tremble.”
“We need to cut off
the terrorist warehouse in the Gaza Strip, after the disengagement,” he
said.
Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely said “we cannot give the Palestinians the
feeling that they have free range because of the election.
We must
destroy the terrorist infrastructure and increase our
deterrence.”
According to MK Alex Miller (Yisrael Beytenu), the time has
come to “take apart the hornets’ nest in Gaza once and for all, and allow the
residents of the South to get some peace and quiet.”
Meanwhile, Meretz
leader Zehava Gal- On took to Facebook to say she “identifies with the suffering
of those in the South, who once again are facing a barrage of
rockets.”
“I hope they won’t continue to suffer because of Barak’s war
with the election threshold,” she wrote, referencing the need of the defense
minister’s Independence Party to garner enough votes to remain in the Knesset.
“Billboards aren’t enough for Barak and Netanyahu’s campaigns; they are running
to war for their election needs.”
Gal-On added that the public will not
buy their spin.
Meretz primary candidate and Tel Aviv City Councilwoman
Tamar Zandberg held a protest in front of Barak’s house on Wednesday night,
chanting “we will not kill or die for the Independence Party” and holding signs
reading “this is not war, this is propaganda.”