By TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST STAFFPalmah Zeevi 298.88(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
"I've been aware for four years of this unsettled account...it's not a simple matter of an eye for an eye, though I did wish for that over my father's grave," Palmach Ze'evi, the son of Rehavam Ze'evi told Army Radio after news of the IDF operation began spreading.
Ze'evi added, "For four years the killers sat half an hour away from Jerusalem and we didn't settle the score. But today things are changing.
"My family and I send kisses to every soldier that is there [at the jail] and pray that no one will be injured. We hope they will all return safely."
While he praised the IDF operation he described Olmert's actions as "underhanded opportunism".
Both the Israel Beiteinu Party and the National Union and National Religious Party spoke in favor of Israel's prison raid in Jericho on Tuesday in which the IDF attempted to regain custody of the assassins of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi (Moledet) who were being held by the Palestinian Authority.
"I bless Israel for taking this step. The actions are correct and honorable," Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman told reporters at a Tel Aviv press conference. He said that he had long urged the government not to leave the men in the hands of the Palestinian Authority.
Lieberman claimed that Israel had no choice but to go into the jail in reaction to statements by the PA that it planned to release this men. He added that had the PA freed Ze'evi's assassins it would have broken agreements that it made with the United States and the England.
"It shows what we can expect from them in the future," he said. However, the Israel Beiteinu leader did not express full agreement with the methods of the IDF saying, "I don't understand why they need to lay siege to the jail - they need to completely destroy it without leaving a single stone standing."
NU-NRP leader Benny Elon (Moledet) said that he felt that the prison raid helped Israel to regain some of the honor it lost following Ze'evi's assassination. "I can only hope that from the strength of this operation we will become the country we once were," he exclaimed.
NRP-NU MK Uri Ariel said that he hoped that the upcoming elections had no bearing on the timing of the events. "The decision to wait till now to act against these terorrists is too little and too late", claimed Ariel.
Likud MK Yuval Steinitz, head of the Knesset's foreign affairs committe and the current Amona investigation, said, "The capture of Ze'evi's murderers was a must in our current reality. It's unfortunate, however, that the government is still zigzagging in its treatment of Hamas.
According to Steinitz, "One hand carries out a forceful act in Jericho against murderers, while the other hand continues to give money and withdrawals to murderers, allowing them to murder more all over the country."
Likud MK Gilad Arden said that his party praised the military operation in Jerico and supported the IDF and its soldiers.
Likud Knesset candidate Uzi Landau also attacked Olmert. "Hamas gets its power from Olmert's policies of weakness," he said, adding, "Hamas's decision to free Ze'evi's murderers is an example of what will happen in the future if Kadima wins the elections."
RAM-Tal MK Ahmed Tibi called the prison siege a callous breach of agreements and a calculated violation by the Israeli election establishment. "Kadima and its leaders are using Palestinian blood as a doorway for their election success," claimed Tibi.
Balad head MK Azmi Bishara called the IDF operation in Jericho an "action of gangs and terror along the lines of 'wanted dead or alive'."
The only interpretation of this incident is that if the Palestinian people do not defend themselves and their institutions and leaders, Israel will do whatever she wants," he added.
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