WarSclerotic

Netanyahu: Gaza conflict proves Israel can’t relinquish control of West Bank

Citing John Kerry by name, PM says he knows best about keeping Israel safe, and won’t allow West Bank to become ‘another 20 Gazas’

By Times of Israel staff July 11, 2014, 7:49 pm

via Netanyahu: Gaza conflict proves Israel can’t relinquish control of West Bank | The Times of Israel.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday vowed to fight Hamas and other Gaza terror groups until Israel was safe from the threat of missile attack, and then launched a highly unusual and extremely bitter verbal assault on would-be peace-brokers, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, who have been urging Israel to relinquish security control of the West Bank to a Palestinian state.

Speaking to the Israeli public on the fourth day of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, which he said has seen Israel attack “over 1,000″ terror targets while sustaining hundreds of rocket attacks from Gaza, Netanyahu vowed that the IDF campaign “will continue until we are sure that Israel’s residents have quiet.” He said that no terrorist target was off-limits, and accused Hamas’s leaders and gunmen of “hiding behind Gaza’s residents” — using them as human shields — and thus being responsible “for any harm that comes to them.”

While Israel did everything to protect its citizens, he said, and had “spent billions to protect the homefront” in recent years, Gaza’s terror groups deliberately put Gazans “in harm’s way.” Israel does its utmost not to harm Gaza’s civilians while targeting the terrorists, while Hamas targets Israel’s civilians, he said.

Netanyahu said he had made this point in conversations with a series of world leaders, including Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, in recent days, and that all the world leaders with whom he spoke understood Israel’s imperative to act. “No state would allow its citizens to be targeted without a harsh response,” he said.

He also vowed that “no international pressure will prevent us from acting with all force against a terrorist organization that seeks to destroy us” and that he would take whatever action was necessary to protect Israelis.

He said he had encountered “lots of good will” from world leaders, and that he had asked them, “Would you tolerate missile attacks on London, Washington, Paris, Berlin and Moscow? Of course not.”

Asked if he was interested in a ceasefire, Netanyahu said, “We are in the midst of a struggle” and that it would end only when his goal of guaranteed, long-term calm had been achieved.

He praised the success of the Iron Dome missile defense system — which has intercepted about 100 Gaza rockets heading into residential areas this week — calling it “an immense asset” and “proof of Israel’s technological supremacy.” And he said his ultimate goal was to protect all of Israel from missiles of all ranges. He praised Israelis’ resilience, as most of the country has found itself within the range of Hamas’s extended missile capabilities over the past few days.

Departing from his prepared text to take questions, Netanyahu said Israel was “weighing all possibilities” for expanding the campaign against Hamas in Gaza, including the possibility of a major ground offensive. “We’ve prepared for all options… That’s what I told the army to do, and it has done so… My uppermost consideration is to restore quiet for all of Israel’s citizens in all of Israel’s cities. I will do whatever is necessary to achieve that goal. Beyond that, I cannot go into details.”

At present, Hamas continues to attack, he noted. “You see it. You hear it. You all live it,” he said. “Five million Israelis are in rocket range right now. So when they fight us, we fight them.”

Indeed, precisely as Netanyahu was speaking, Hamas launched a rocket barrage at central Israel, apparently seeking to embarrass him. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Netanyahu then expanded the scope of his press conference to talk about the rise of Islamic extremism across the Middle East. He said Israel finds itself in a region “that is being seized by Islamic extremism. It is bringing down countries, many countries. It is knocking on our door, in the north and south. We will defend ourselves on every front, defensively and offensively. Nobody should mess with us.”

While other states were collapsing, said Netanyahu, Israel was not — because of the strength of its leadership, its army and its people.

He then used the dangers posed by Hamas in Gaza to underline his opposition to security concessions urged by Kerry and the international community in the West Bank. Since Israel pulled out Gaza in 2005, a move he opposed, Hamas had created a terrorist bunker there. “So we have to take care of Hamas.”

But at the same time, Israel had to ensure that “we don’t get another Gaza in Judea and Samaria” — the biblical name for the West Bank.

Amid the current conflict, he elaborated, “I think the Israeli people understand now what I always say: that there cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the River Jordan” — a reference to the Jordan Valley and the West Bank — as Kerry had urged during a US-led peace effort that collapsed in April.

Citing by name both Kerry and the US security adviser Gen. John Allen, who was charged by the secretary of state to draw up security proposals that the US argued could enable Israel to withdraw from most of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, Netanyahu said passionately, “I told John Kerry and General Allen, the Americans’ expert: We live here, I live here, I know what we need to ensure the security of Israel’s people.”

He said the current conflict also underlined the importance of retaining territory, noting that Hamas had tunneled relentlessly under Gaza’s borders with both Egypt, for smuggling purposes, and Israel, for terrorism purposes. “If we were to pull out of Judea and Samaria, like they tell us to, there’d be a possibility of thousands of tunnels” being dug by terrorists to attack Israel, he said. There were 1,200 tunnels dug in a 14-kilometer stretch between Egypt and Gaza alone, which Egypt had sealed, he noted.

“Adjacent territory has huge importance,” Netanyahu said, and could be used by terrorists to dig tunnels and to fire rockets. The closer terrorists can get to Israel’s borders, he said, the more rockets they fire — as the current conflict was proving.

“At present we have a problem with the territory called Gaza,” the prime minister said. But he noted that the West Bank is 20 times the size of Gaza, and vowed that he was not prepared “to create another 20 Gazas” in the West Bank.

Netanyahu: IDF offensive in Gaza to continue until quiet is restored in south | JPost | Israel News.

07/11/2014 18:25

When asked whether Israel was preparing a ground invasion, Netanyahu said, “We are preparing all options.”

Operation Protective Edge will continue until the quiet is restored, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Friday, minutes before Shabbat, after holding high-level security deliberations in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu, who took questions from reporters for the first time since the operation, would not reveal when or whether a ground operation inside Gaza would begin.

“We are weighing all possibilities, and are prepared for all possibilities,” he said, adding that everyone understands that he cannot give details of tactical decisions.

A calm Netanyahu said that the terror kingdom Hamas set up in Gaza – where there are not only thousands of rockets, but also well over a thousand tunnels – will not be allowed to be replicated in the West Bank.

“We need to understand one fact, we are living in a Middle East that is being taken over from radical Islam, leading to the collapse of a number of counties, and is knocking on our doors, both in the and the south.”

In addition to dealing with Hamas, he said, “I say we cannot allow a situation where we get Gaza in Judea and Samaria.”

“Today I think that Israel’s citizens understand why I say all the time, that there cannot be a situation in any agreement that we will give up security control from the Jordan River westward,” he said.

“I don’t want to create another 20 Gazas in Judea and Samaria,” he added.

“Those who say that territory has no importance, look how much importance there is,’ he said. “In a contiguous territory, you can build tunnels.”

If Israel would leave the West Bank completely, he said, there would be the possibility of thousands of tunnels burrowing into Israel. “There are 1,200 tunnels in the 14 kilometers between Egypt and Gaza,” the prime minister revealed, adding that Egypt has sealed most of them.

He said the tunnels illustrate that territory “has tremendous importance.”

Netanyahu said that the IAF has so far hit more than 1,000 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets, and that the “military blow” will continue until Israel is sure that that the quiet is restored.

Netanyahu did not spell out any conditions for a cease fire, or give any indication about whether a third party was now involved in trying to broker one.

The prime minister did not stray from the goal he set out for the operation from the very beginning: to restore quiet. He did not widen the goal to destroying Hamas or re-taking Gaza.

Netanyahu, who spoke overnight with US President Barack Obama, and has spoken over the last few days with numerous world leaders, said that “no international pressure will prevent us from acting with all our strength against a terrorist organization that calls for our destruction.”

Netanyahu said that there is an understanding for Israel’s actions among the leaders, and that the slow and measured manner in which Israel entered the operation was due not only to operational considerations, but also to create an international atmosphere that would understand why Israel felt the need to hit Hamas, as it is doing.

“All the leaders understand our need to act,” he said. “I also asked them what they would do. Would they be willing to absorb a rocket barrage attacks on London, Washington, Paris and Moscow? Of course not.”

Regarding an exit strategy, Netanyahu said that he will finish the operation when the goals are achieved, and the primary goal is to restore the quiet to Israeli citizens.

Netanyahu also sent a warning to Hezbollah, saying that Israel would act aggressively against any others who will fire missiles on Israel. “I would not recommend anyone to test us,” he said.

Netanyahu was full of praise for the country for its “fortitude,” and for Iron Dome. He said that over the years his governments have sp

Netanyahu says Gaza operation will not cease until missile threat is over

PM: No amount of world pressure will prevent Israel from hitting Hamas;

rockets launched at greater Tel Aviv area; over 2,000 projectiles destroyed over past 4 days of operation,

military says; man severely injured in Ashdod rocket attackBy Ricky Ben-David, Lazar Berman and Haviv Rettig Gur July 11, 2014, 2:10 am

via Netanyahu says Gaza operation will not cease until missile threat is over | The Times of Israel.

Operation Protective Edge entered its fourth day on Friday. By nightfall Thursday, over 350 rockets had been fired at Israel, about 90 of them intercepted by Iron Dome, and the Israeli Air Force had carried out almost 900 airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. By midday Friday, Palestinian reports said at least 100 Palestinians had been killed. Ceasefire offers are ‘irrelevant’ at this stage, says Israel, because Hamas continues to fire. Chief of Staff Gantz says the IDF is waiting for orders to commence a ground operation, as it masses increased forces on the Gaza border. The Times of Israel is liveblogging events as they unfold. (Wednesday’s liveblog is here.)

Talk of peace always leads to war, Israel Hayom, Ruthie Blum, July 11, 2014

The real reason for what the world is calling a “cycle of violence” is the phony peace process that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spent months trying to broker between Israel and the Palestinians. More specifically, it is the culmination of Israeli appeasement toward Washington and Ramallah. In other words, it was as inevitable as every armed conflict against the Jewish state since the 1948 War of Independence.

Has this made a dent in the view of the Israeli Left, the White House and State Department, the European Union and the United Nations that Israel needs to resume the “peace process”? On the contrary, it has strengthened their position that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is somehow at fault for launching Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. And it has led to more calls for brokered negotiations.

This is not only the kind of travesty that one has come to expect of detractors, both at home and abroad; it is also counterproductive. Anyone who really wants a cessation of war must know by now that the worst way to achieve it is to talk of peace.

After a light-hearted exchange about the chance of reaching our destination without getting hit by a missile barrage, my taxi driver’s tone darkened.

“Tell me the truth,” he said. “How do feel when the siren goes off?”

“Startled,” I answered. “But getting used to it.” (Thanks to Iron Dome, I thought, otherwise I would probably be as terrified as the residents of Sderot and other southern towns, who have been under this blitz for years.)

Stopping at a red light, the driver leaned over to me and lowered his voice.

“It scares me to death,” he admitted, in what struck me as a feat of extraordinary bravery for an Israeli male.

He then explained that he has been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder since being seriously wounded 12 years ago in a suicide bombing. Though he has learned to keep it under some degree of control, he said he relives the horror “every time there’s a flare-up in the situation.”

Little wonder.

It happened on a Friday afternoon, on April 12, 2002, at the Mahane Yehuda outdoor market in Jerusalem, when a 17-year-old girl belonging to the Hebron branch of the Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades detonated an explosive device strapped to her body. Four people were killed that day, including two foreign workers from China, and more than 100 were wounded, among them my taxi driver, all because they were out shopping for food for Shabbat.

It was one of many such grotesque attacks on innocent civilians carried out by Palestinian terrorists from Gaza and Judea and Samaria. The aim to annihilate the Jewish state is one thing these assaults had in common. Another is that each was the result of peace talks.

Indeed, the bombing in question was part of the Second Intifada, waged against Israel following the so-called “failure” of the 2000 Camp David Summit. In fact, it was the inevitable outcome of Israeli peace overtures and concessions to Palestinian Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat. An arch-terrorist with genocidal goals and behavior, the Nobel Peace prize he won for signing the Oslo Accords became his most lethal weapon. And he used it with a vengeance.

Rather than working toward the establishment of the state for which he was ostensibly fighting, Arafat took the opportunity of relative autonomy in the Palestinian Authority to step up operations against Israel. His successor, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, has carried on this legacy. His recent reconciliation with Hamas is not merely proof of this, but was directly linked to the latest round of Israeli overtures and concessions.

The same goes for Israeli cease-fires with terrorist organizations and withdrawals from terrorist-run territory. Peace never ensues; only the promise of the next war, and the fulfillment of that promise.

This is exactly what is happening today. The notion that the current incessant missile fire on Israel was sparked by the murder of 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir in Jerusalem at the hand of Jewish vigilantes — following the abduction and killing of three Israeli teens — is absolutely ridiculous.

The real reason for what the world is calling a “cycle of violence” is the phony peace process that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spent months trying to broker between Israel and the Palestinians. More specifically, it is the culmination of Israeli appeasement toward Washington and Ramallah. In other words, it was as inevitable as every armed conflict against the Jewish state since the 1948 War of Independence.

Has this made a dent in the view of the Israeli Left, the White House and State Department, the European Union and the United Nations that Israel needs to resume the “peace process”? On the contrary, it has strengthened their position that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is somehow at fault for launching Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. And it has led to more calls for brokered negotiations.

This is not only the kind of travesty that one has come to expect of detractors, both at home and abroad; it is also counterproductive. Anyone who really wants a cessation of war must know by now that the worst way to achieve it is to talk of peace.

Just ask my scarred-for-life taxi driver.

Hamas warns residents against revealing downtown Gaza launches

Ministry of Interior video guides Facebook users on proper wartime terminology, tells Gazans to refute all Israeli messages

By Elhanan Miller July 11, 2014, 5:40 pm

via Hamas warns residents against revealing downtown Gaza launches | The Times of Israel.

hamas’s Ministry of Interior in Gaza — still active despite a unity government with Fatah which officially disbanded it — has requested that citizens not share photos of rockets launched from residential areas in downtown Gaza lest Israel strike those areas.

The ministry’s social media department published a video in Arabic Thursday containing guidelines for “cautious and effective” social media engagement on Facebook and Twitter during Operation Protective Edge. The ministry calls on residents to be wary of repeating Israeli “rumors,” and of adopting “the occupation’s narrative.” “Always doubt it and dispel it,” the video advises.

“Beware of posting photos of missiles launched from the center of town directed at Israel. This is used as a pretext to strike residential areas in the Gaza Strip,” it continues.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, also appointed Minister of Interior in the new unity government sworn in June 2, has admitted in an interview with The New York Times last month that his Ramallah-based government wields no control over the Gaza Strip. The website of Hamas’s ministry has remained continuously active throughout the IDF operation, delivering news and guidelines to residents.

When referring to casualties in Gaza, the term “innocent citizen” should always be added to the name, the video says.

“Begin your coverage of the resistance [Hamas] activities by writing ‘in response to the brutal Israeli attack’ and end it with ‘more than X martyrs have been killed since Israel began its aggression against Gaza’.”

“Always focus on the role of ‘the Israeli occupation as aggressor’ and that ‘we in Palestine represent the response’.”

In some cases, the video’s advice straddles the line between operational security and efficient advocacy tips.

“Do not publish photos or video clips depicting locations of rocket launches or movements of resistance [Hamas members] in Gaza,” the video warns. “To Facebook news page administrators, do not display photos of masked men carrying heavy weapons up close, so that your page isn’t shut for inciting violence.”

Facebook commenters should describe the local manufacturing of rockets as a “natural response to the occupation launching missiles at civilians in the West Bank and Gaza.”

Photos, the video concludes, should include documentation of the time and place they were taken, since Israel claims that Palestinians are using archived photos as news.

“Make sure in every roundup to mention the number of women and children killed or injured. There is nothing wrong with displaying photos of the injured,” Hamas urged in the video.

IDF chief: We’re ready for ground offensive, awaiting cabinet’s orders, Ynet News, Yoav Zitun, July 11, 2014

‘Nothing is stopping us from moving forward,’ Gantz says, adding that Hamas is ‘understanding it has made a big mistake. Gaza is sinking to its doom.’

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Friday that the military was ready for a possible ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, and was awaiting instructions from the political leadership.

“Nothing is stopping us from moving forward,” Gantz said during a tour of a Paratroopers training base. “The IDF is not waiting for the last straw to go on a ground offensive, it’s waiting on political instruction.”

Terrorists “in Gaza are understanding that they’ve made a big mistake. In four days we’ve been intelligently using our offensive means while remembering that there are civilians there that Hamas has turned into hostages,” Gantz said. “Gaza is slowly sinking to its doom.”

The chief of staff noted that “the air offensive is excellent and we have intelligence that works. We have what to attack, and we will intensify the attacks. We’ve yet to exhaust our offensive capabilities.”

Gantz went on to say that “strategically, Gaza needs to choose whether it’s heading for a calm or to a security catastrophe.”

Gaza building in ruins after IAF strike (Photo: AFP)

DF attack in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (Photo: AFP)

On the threat from Hamas, Gantz said, “Hamas has been getting stronger over the years. Thousands of rockets were hit (in IDF attacks) and they tried to fire hundreds of rockets and were unsuccessful, while dozens were intercepted.”

The IDF chief also stressed that “the Iron Dome cannot provide complete protection” and cautioned that this military campaign must be viewed “in a level-headed, non-hysteric manner.”

Israeli troops amassing on the Gaza border (Photo: AFP)

Armored Corps soldiers on the Gaza border (Photo: AFP)

The IDF has been preparing for a possible ground offensive, calling in reserves and amassing troops on the Gaza border. This ground offensive could happen within the next 36 hours. The army believes a ground campaign could lead to a lot of achievements and to an extensive blow to Hamas’ infrastructure, mostly in places where the army and Shin Bet have no intelligence on.

One of the main options being considered is a limited and focused ground offensive that includes ground forces, engineering forces and armored corps.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Thursday: “So far the battle is progressing as planned, but we can expect further stages in future. Up to now, we have hit Hamas and the terror organizations hard and as the battle continues we will increase strikes at them.”

Netanyahu discussed options with his security cabinet as new air strikes were launched and officials hinted at a ground offensive. There was no word on when or if this might happen.

Israeli leaders have appeared to hint at a possible invasion by ground forces and some 20,000 army reservists have been mobilized, giving them the means, if they choose, to mount a land offensive.

The last time they undertook such an offensive was in early 2009 during Operation Cast Lead. Ground troops did not cross into the Strip, one of the world’s most densely populated territories, during the last major exchange of rockets and missiles in the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense.

“We have long days of fighting ahead of us,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri sounded a defiant note, when asked about Yaalon’s remarks. “Our backs are to the wall and we have nothing to lose,” he said. “We are ready to battle until the end.”

Deputy head of the Hamas political bureau and executive organization in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, spoke to Palestinian media Friday saying, “We aren’t afraid from the enemy’s threats. The blood of the leaders is no more important than the blood of the children and families.”

He addressed Israel and said, “Stop your war crimes against our people because your aggression will fail to achieve its objectives. Our people will be victorious no matter the number of victims or the number of threats… Our people are united and support the resistance in an unprecedented manner.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas to stop its rocket fire at Israel.

“What are you trying to achieve by sending rockets?” Abbas asked on Palestine TV, without explicitly naming Hamas. “We prefer to fight with wisdom and politics.”

Obama approval high with Muslims – Jonathan Topaz – POLITICO.com.

( ‘Nuf said…   JW )

The survey underscores a religious divide when it comes to presidential approval. | AP Photo

By JONATHAN TOPAZ | 7/11/14 6:06 AM EDT

President Barack Obama’s approval rating is higher among Muslims than any other religious group, a new poll says.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/poll-obama-approval-muslims-highest-108797.html#ixzz37AbdrIQq

More Iron Dome batteries to be rolled out in coming days as rocket attacks persist | JPost | Israel News.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

 07/11/2014 15:39

Defense Minister Ya’alon thanks Rafael and IAI for air defenses that have saved many lives.

Additional Iron Dome batteries will be rolled out in the coming days and deployed across Israel.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon spoke with the heads of the Rafael defense corporation and Israel Aircraft Industries, which manufactures air defense batteries, and thanked them for the extraordinary performance of the anti-rocket system.

“Your efforts, and those of your people in this operation is very impressive, and inspirational,” Ya’alon added. “In recent days, you and your people are working with dedication, day and night, to instantly set up more Iron Dome batteries, which will go into operation during [the current] Operation Protective Edge, and will defend the Israeli people,” he said.

Ya’alon spoke to Yitzhak Gat (Chairman) and Didi Ya’ari (CEO) of Rafael, and Rafi Maor (Chairman) and Yosi Weiss (CEO) of IAI.

“I’d like to thank you and express my big appreciation for Iron Dome’s activities,” Ya’alon said. “This, most importantly, saves lives, and provides us with wide-ranging opportunities when managing the campaign against Hamas. It also sends a message to states and organizations around us, which are building up enormous quantities of missiles and rockets,” Ya’alon said.

“The impressive performance of Iron Dome has strategic significance for the State of Israel and the security of its people,” Ya’alon said, asking the executives to pass on the thanks of the Israeli people to the engineers, developers, and creators of Iron Dome.

A large effort to produce more interceptor missiles is also under way, Ya’alon added.

On Friday, Iron Dome intercepted some 15 Gazan rockets, and since Monday night, it has intercepted over 130 rockets heading to built up areas in Israel.

More than 50 rockets have fallen in Israeli territory on Friday, and over 600 since Monday, when Operation Protective Edge began. At the start of the operation, seven Iron Dome batteries were deployed across the country.

Israel Hayom | Time for a strategic campaign.

Avi Dichter

Israel Has ‘Full US Backing’ For Ground Assault – News from America – News – Arutz Sheva.

Dan Shapiro

Flash 90

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro spoke to Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) on Friday morning, and committed America’s firm support for Israel if it decides to launch a ground offensive on the Hamas stronghold of Gaza.

The statement comes after the IDF on Thursday afternoon sent telephone warnings to 100,000 residents of Gaza, telling them to evacuate the area near the security border in an indication of an imminent ground entry.

“No one wants a ground operation, and we want that Hamas would stop sending the missiles and rockets. But in any case, Israel has full American backing,” said Shapiro on the “Good Morning Israel” radio show.

Just before Shapiro’s talk of full backing for a ground assault, US President Barack Obama called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday night and offered to broker a ceasefire with the terrorist organization Hamas.

“The president expressed concern about the risk of further escalation and emphasized the need for all sides to do everything they can to protect the lives of civilians and restore calm,” the White House said in a statement. “The United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement.”

While the 2012 deal, brokered by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Egypt, ended the counter-terror Operation Pillar of Defense, Hamas did not keep to the ceasefire.

As of June, before the recent escalation, Gaza terrorists had already fired over 450 rockets at Israel since the start of 2014 according to the IDF.

Since Operation Protective Edge began on Monday, Gaza terrorists have fired well over 500 rockets and mortars, and the IDF has hit over 1,100 terror sites.

America has given mixed messages during the course of the operation, supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, even as US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday night called Netanyahu after Gaza terrorists fired 80 rockets, and asked him to “show restraint.“