IDF not reinforcing Sharon region roofs

Exclusive: Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak: "Mass production of Kassams very difficult."

By YAAKOV KATZ
kassam lands 88 (photo credit: )
kassam lands 88
(photo credit: )
Despite attempts by Palestinian terror groups to manufacture Kassam rockets in the West Bank, the IDF does not plan to begin reinforcing rooftops in the Sharon region which would be in range of the rockets, OC Home Front Command Maj.-Gen. Gershon Yitzhak has told The Jerusalem Post. "It would be very difficult to mass produce [Kassam] rockets while the IDF is in control of the territories in Judea and Samaria," Yitzhak told the Post in an exclusive Independence Day interview that appears in today's holiday supplement. If Israel, however, decided to withdraw from the territories, Yitzhak said that the need to reinforce Sharon-region buildings would have to be reevaluated. "There are thoughts on this issue but currently there is no intention to [reinforce] since we have military and intelligence control over Judea and Samaria," he said. Claiming that the IDF would eventually succeed in stopping the Kassam fire, Yitzhak called on the residents of the Gaza border communities to demonstrate courage and resilience like the settlers in Gaza did during the years of attacks against them. "There has been a terror war here over the past five years and the people of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip stood courageously in face of the threats," he said. "Now it is the turn of the residents of communities surrounding Gaza, who need to demonstrate patience and resilience to let the defense establishment utilize all of the resources at its disposal to stop the Kassam fire." During the interview, Yitzhak for the first time laid out his plans to establish a National Emergency Administration that would unite all the civilian emergency rescue services with the IDF at a time of war or during a natural disaster. "We need to try and create a situation that within Israel during an emergency all the different bodies will work together as one single organization," he said.