Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Monday evening spoke at a ceremony honoring outstanding reserve units at the Presidential Residence in Jerusalem, where he had a simple message for Gaza terrorists: Israel will not tolerate continued rocket attacks.
“In the last few days we received another reminder about the complexity of the situation in Gaza, a hostile entity controlled by a murderous terrorist organization, Hamas, which is also being challenged by terrorist gangs affiliated with the Global Jihad movement,” he said.
“In the face of this situation, Israel is conducting a determined and firm policy, but also a prudent and responsible one,” continued Ya’alon. “During Operation Protective Edge, the IDF struck the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip, and if need be and we will continue to be challenged, we will not hesitate to act with similar intensity in the future.”
“We will not allow anyone to disrupt the lives of Israeli citizens. We will not tolerate firing at our towns,” said Ya’alon, speaking directly to terrorist organizations in Gaza. “Beware of continuing to test us, since only last summer we proved that we can strike the terrorist organizations in an unprecedented way. We will not be patient with attempts to challenge us.”
There have been several rocket attacks on southern Israel in recent days, the last one taking place on Saturday night when a rocket struck an open area in Ashkelon.
Ya’alon ordered to close the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings late Saturday night following that rocket attack, but those crossing were re-opened on Monday.
Earlier Monday, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman attacked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for his latest government’s lack of deterrence.
“It hasn’t even been a year since Operation Protective Edge, and there is a complete loss of deterrence,” Liberman stressed during his party’s faction meeting.
“The Prime Minister and the Defense Minister are talking about Israeli deterrence – it doesn’t exist. Silence is not the result of a deterrent. We are buying silence at a very expensive price – the price of a terrorist infrastructure being reconstructed.”
“The State of Israel has given tacit approval to Hamas to work seven days a week, 24 hours a day to build tunnels and produce lethal missiles,” Liberman charged.
