Israel Matzav

Comrade Peretz takes off the gloves

The 'Palestinians' shot four more Kassam rockets at Israel today. Two of them did not even make it into Israel, landing in 'Palestinian' territory. One of those two rockets hit a building in Beit Hanoun, lightly wounding a mother and two of her children. (According to the Jerusalem Post, three children were wounded and there is no mention of the mother. Haaretz mentions three wounded children, but says that a total of five 'Palestinians' were wounded. No mention of the mother). According to YNet, the mother suffered a miscarriage. Rumor has it that the United Nations 'Human Rights Council' will not be sending Bishop Desmond Tutu to investigate this incident. So I guess we will never know for sure.

Meanwhile, defenseless Defense Minister Amir Comrade Peretz is getting tired of holding back the army, and wants Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert to end his restraint. Olmert is not worried (see picture above). This is from the Post's coverage:

During a meeting with the prime minister in Tel Aviv, Peretz said that Israel could not create a situation by which Palestinian terrorists responsible for rocket attacks were given immunity by a cease-fire.

"We cannot gamble with the lives of Israeli citizens," Peretz said.

Peretz was set to meet later in day with senior IDF officers to discuss the escalation on the Gaza front.

"We cannot gamble with the lives of Israeli citizens?" Please, that's what this government has been doing since its inception and it's what Sharon's government before it did by undertaking the surrender of Gaza and expulsion of its Jewish residents. YNet reports that (soon-to-be-ex?) Chief of Staff Dan Halutz got his nose a little brown today defending Olmert:

"When the prime minister decides to hold back, he is doing it out of a broader outlook than the direct military context of the need to respond to the Qassam fire. The military need alone is not everything," Halutz said, adding that "the right of self-defense is a right reserved to anyone."

Say what?

But Haaretz reports that Olmert is as stubborn as ever:

Olmert is intent on adhering to the policy of restraint in face of the continued Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, a senior political source in Jerusalem said Wednesday.

So Olmert continues to fiddle as Peretz (and Livni according to Haaretz) starts to hesitate, and the State of Israel continues to burn.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:08 PM