Ministers spar over ‘apologetic’ IDF statement on terror tunnel destruction
Source: Ministers spar over ‘apologetic’ IDF statement on terror tunnel destruction – Israel Hayom
Education Minister Naftali Bennett blasts IDF statement clarifying Gaza terror tunnel detonation that killed seven was not targeted assassination • Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman condemns Bennett’s remarks as “serious blow” to Israel’s security, IDF.
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Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett
| Photo: AP
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Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett was criticized on Tuesday after he slammed an IDF statement saying that the military did not intend to kill senior Islamic Jihad officials when on Monday it destroyed a terror tunneldug from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
“We must not apologize for the successful elimination of terrorists,” Bennett said. “Let me be clear: These are terrorists who were engaged in digging a terror tunnel inside Israeli territory that was meant to kill Israeli women and children. We are not looking for a [security] escalation, and as a member of the [Diplomatic-Security] Cabinet that has led [efforts] to thwart the tunnel threat since Operation Protective Edge, I give my full support to the operation. The IDF’s objective is to defeat the enemy and it must thus continue.”
On Monday, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said the operation had been defensive and had taken place in Israeli territory. He also said most of the fatalities were from smoke inhalation, dust and landslides, and not the detonation itself.
“Only conventional measures were used,” he said. “The IDF used the same measures it uses regularly. The secondary damage underground resulted in fatalities. There was no intention to target any specific individual. The operation took place in our territory. Their people were killed in their territory.”
Bennett’s statement drew criticism from both the defense establishment and lawmakers.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman blasted Bennett’s remarks, saying, “An IDF spokesman’s briefing must not serve as a pretext for a blatant attack on the IDF and its commanders. These types of remarks are a serious blow to Israel’s security and the entire IDF. We will continue to act with determination, force and responsibility for the sake of the security of Israel’s citizens.”
Another senior defense official said: “It would be best if instead of looking for prominence in the media, he [Bennett] would deal with the problems in his office.”
Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah accused Bennett of populist antics.
“Bennett apparently wants to be seen as a hero, no matter at whose expense,” He said, “The IDF spokesman did not apologize for the killing of terrorists. He briefed military reporters on what transpired yesterday in Gaza the way he was supposed to: accurately, reliably and clearly.”
Zionist Union MK Eyal Ben-Reuven said, “The IDF was right to clarify that the detonation of the tunnel was not a targeted assassination. The operation was completely justified. We must act forcefully against those who threaten the State of Israel with terror, but without fervor, without irresponsible words.”
In media briefings on Tuesday, Manelis did not apologize for the operation or the killing of Palestinians but stressed the legitimacy of and justification for the operation, after Israel’s sovereignty was violated by the digging of tunnels into its territory.
Manelis stressed the deaths of the operatives were not the premeditated outcome of the operation.
WarSclerotic 
November 2, 2017 at 3:22 PM
The mental sickness is crawling into Israel to, apologizing for killing Jew killers the madness .
It is like saying thanks for the free entrance of hitlers gas chambers !
November 2, 2017 at 3:23 PM
Deep a little deeper and guess who’s the snake in the woodpile…
Iran relationship with al-Qaeda revealed in newly-released trove of bin Laden documents
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/01/iran-relationship-al-qaeda-revealed-newly-released-trove-bin/
I’m sure a lot more will come out with this enormous document dump from Bin Laden’s palace in Pakistan. Iran is definitly behind all the bad players. No surprise here. This dump will certainly confirm everyone’s suspicions. Meanwhile, the war with Iran wages on and on and on.
November 2, 2017 at 3:35 PM
And who hold a key to Iran , yes, Russia !
US is #1 enemy, Iran will never yield to it – Supreme Leader Khamenei
https://www.rt.com/news/408559-us-number-one-enemy-khamenei/
November 2, 2017 at 3:57 PM
And I thought Israel was the #1 enemy of Iran. Silly me.
November 2, 2017 at 8:41 PM
The honor for the first place go to the USA , the great satan !
Israel is no:2 the little satan !
US is #1 enemy, Iran will never yield to it – Supreme Leader Khamenei
https://www.rt.com/news/408559-us-number-one-enemy-khamenei/
But do you have an opinion about this ?
Trump Calls for Death Penalty for Uzbek Man Charged in NY Attack
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/trump-calls-death-penalty-uzbek-man-charged-ny-attack/
November 2, 2017 at 11:37 PM
Yes…see below. If they don’t roast him, they should send him to Gitmo. But I’m probably being lenient compared to the opinions of the families of the victims.
November 3, 2017 at 7:45 AM
for me they can cut him up in peaces and feed it to the street dogs.
But i was waiting for a answer with a bit more dept, something about separation of powers , the tri as politica , the call from trump for the dead penalty is NOT correct in his function .
November 3, 2017 at 5:58 PM
Sorry to disappoint you.
November 4, 2017 at 2:56 AM
No problem , but you are one of the guardians of the state so you must be alert on this in my humble opinion .
November 2, 2017 at 3:27 PM
CIA Releases Nearly 470,000 Additional Files Recovered in May 2011 Raid on Usama Bin Ladin’s Compound
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/2017-press-releases-statements/cia-releases-additional-files-recovered-in-ubl-compound-raid.html
November 2, 2017 at 3:40 PM
Trump Calls for Death Penalty for Uzbek Man Charged in NY Attack
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/trump-calls-death-penalty-uzbek-man-charged-ny-attack/
November 2, 2017 at 3:54 PM
“Capital punishment is not in force in the State of New York. The last execution took place in 1963, when Eddie Mays was electrocuted at Sing Sing Prison. The state was the first to adopt the electric chair as a method of execution, which replaced hanging. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling declaring existing capital punishment statutes unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia (1972), New York was without a death penalty until 1995, when then-Governor George Pataki signed a new statute into law, which provided for execution by lethal injection.
In June 2004, the state’s highest court ruled in People v. LaValle that the state’s death penalty statute violated the state constitution, and New York has had an effective moratorium on capital punishment since then. Subsequent legislative attempts at fixing or replacing the statute have failed, and in 2008 then-Governor David Paterson issued an executive order disestablishing New York’s death row. Legislative efforts to amend the statute have failed, and death sentences are no longer sought at the state level, though certain crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government are subject to the federal death penalty.”
Hopefully, this is one of those ‘certain crimes’ that fall under the jurisdiction of the feds. – LS