FM tells WJC gathering Israel operating "according to a new equation;" Bibi: Strike back with "iron fist."
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS, JPOST.COM STAFFlivni batting eyelashes 248.88(photo credit: AP)
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday that Israel will no longer show restraint against Palestinian attacks from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
"Israel is going to act according to a new equation. We are not going to show restraint anymore," Livni told a gathering of the New York-based World Jewish Congress in Jerusalem.
Her remarks came after an Israeli soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an attack near the Gaza border in the most serious assault since a temporary cease-fire went in effect last week.
"We need to change the rules of the game until they learn that the rules have changed and the equation has changed," she added.
Livni said that Israel needed to negotiate with the Fatah-run Palestinian leadership in the West Bank towards a two-state solution, while continuing to fight against Hamas in Gaza.
"For me an agreement with Hamas is not an option," she concluded.
Likud chair Binyamin Netanyahu also responding to the fatal attack on Tuesday, saying, "Sooner or later we will need to finish the job in Gaza, and that we will do."
Speaking at an event opening the Likud election campaign, Netanyahu called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to order "an immediate strike with an iron fist."
