Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday night responded to the latest rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israel, saying that it is the Israeli government’s “policy of restraint” that is to blame for the resumption of rocket attacks.
“Powerlessness leads to failure. The policy led by the Prime Minister, of restraint and containment and obvious reluctance to topple the Hamas terror regime, leads to the residents of the south and then all the residents of Israel, again being held hostage by the terrorists in Gaza,” Liberman said in a statement, shortly after two rockets from Gaza exploded in the Sdot Negev region.
“Israel must respond firmly and not just issue a verbal response or bomb empty sands,” he added.
MK Haim Yellin (Yesh Atid) similarly called on the government to respond to the rocket attack.
“We must not let the fire continue, terrorism should be struck with full force and we must not be satisfied with shelling some sand dunes, otherwise we will meet each summer in wars without purpose instead of at the swimming pool,” he said.
“The fact that Operation Protective Edge ended without a diplomatic process being reached was a strategic error that requires repair. We have to produce a diplomatic mechanism which includes the United States, the European Union and the moderate Arab states, the essence of which is a clear stipulation that rehabilitation in Gaza will not happen without the demilitarization of Gaza,” added Yellin.
Opposition leader MK Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Union) urged the Israeli government to fiercely attack the terrorists who fired the rockets.
“The sources of the rocket fire and the enemies of Israel must be attacked with all our might. On the issue of protecting the security of our citizens, no Israeli leader will shy away from using all the power that we need,” he said.
Wednesday evening’s rocket attack came just one week after terrorists from Gaza fired a Grad rocket towards southern Israel. The rocket exploded near the community of Gan Yavneh, near Ashdod. There were no injuries.
The IDF retaliated for the attack by launching airstrikes on terrorist infrastructures in Gaza.
