Israel Matzav

Shelly Yacimovich to Hamas: 'Stop the shelling! Can't you see we're in the middle of an election'?

The woman who would be Prime Minister, the choice of the 'Center-Left,' the former radio broadcaster turned politician, wants a million Israelis to cower in bomb shelters... at least until January 23.

Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich, on a tour of the rocket-hit South, positioned herself against intensive military action, telling Army Radio, "We are on the eve of elections, and operations beyond air attacks or targeted strikes require stability and national consensus at home."

"It could be that such an operation is necessary, but not now," Yacimovich continued.

I'd bet there's a national consensus on this one. Operation Cast Lead, which was directed by then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after his government resigned enjoyed 91% approval among Israelis.  Of course, in that case, the opposition in the person of one Binyamin Netanyahu also supported the operation. Will Yacimovich support it? Or will she risk the wrath of a million voters in southern Israel by telling them what we all know already: The Labor party believes that southern Israel is NotInMyBackYard.

Yacimovich's boosters at Haaretz are claiming that Netanyahu doesn't want a full-scale Operation Cast Lead before the elections, and are therefore trying to pin the blame for the current situation on him. But since that article is behind Haaretz's pay wall and I refuse to pay, I cannot tell you what it says....

In the meantime, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is a Netanyahu confidante, is calling for an operation like Defensive Shield, the 2002 operation that shut down 'Palestinian' terror during the second intifada.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, of the Likud, warned that over time, rocket fire would hit closer and closer to Israel's center, and said Israel "cannot simply adjust and shield itself."

Despite the scope of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza 2008, Steinitz said that Israel has not yet had an operation along the lines of Defensive Shield, the intensive 2002 anti-terror operation in the West Bank.

For those who have forgotten, the biggest difference between Defensive Shield and Cast Lead is that after Defensive Shield, the IDF stayed in place in Judea and Samaria, whereas after Cast Lead it withdrew from Gaza. 

Hmmm. Maybe Yacimovich needs to adjust herself to some new realities....

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Gaza, NotInMyBackYard, Operation Cast Lead, Operation Defensive Shield, rockets, Shelly Yacimovich, Yuval Steinitz

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:31 PM