Vice PM: Hizbullah erred in assuming "it could break Israel's spirit."
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFdignified peres 298 88aj(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres on Tuesday appealed to the Lebanese people to disarm Hizbullah and make peace with Israel.
In a speech to Israel's parliament, Peres also said he was certain of victory.
"In this war, there is no alternative to victory against terrorists," Peres told Israel's parliament. "Morally, Hizbullah has already been defeated. It will also be defeated militarily."
Hizbullah made a strategic error, he said, when it assumed that "with `12,000 rockets, it could break Israel's spirit."
In a direct appeal to the Lebanese people, Peres said: "You proved that you could throw the Syrians out of the country, and you can rid your country of the weapons of Hizbullah."
"This could be your great opportunity," Peres said, referring to the Lebanese. "You have at your service an army of 80,000 troops. Where are they?"
Peres said that once Hizbullah was no longer a threat, Israel and Lebanon could make peace.
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