Likud Knesset candidate Moshe Feiglin surprisingly came out against a ground
incursion into the Gaza Strip in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on
Monday.
Feiglin, who is known for his hawkish views, came out against
calls to invade Gaza from ministers and Knesset members considered more dovish
than him.
“Gaza is ours, and it is part of Israel, but if we are not
going to stay there, we should take a safer route by stopping the flow of
electricity and money to the Strip before sending in ground forces,” Feiglin
said.
“Bringing in ground forces clearly would have a price. There are other paths that have not been exhausted that would not require loss of life
on either side.”
Feiglin, who has been touring southern communities under
rocket fire, said he did not understand why Israel has not decided to take
non-violent punitive measures that he believes would isolate Hamas.
While
spokesmen for Israel have been stressing for the past week that Hamas started
the fight, Feiglin blamed the Israeli governments that adopted the Oslo Accords
and started the process of relinquishing Israeli control over the Gaza Strip to
the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinian Authority and then
Hamas.
“Recognizing the PLO’s sovereignty has prevented us from acting
out of anything other than self-defense, when we should be acting out of
justice,” he said.