Netanyahu on Gaza Pullout: We Didn’t Want a Fallujah

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netanyahu1Israeli Prrime Minister Bibi Netanyahu today defended his decision-making throughout Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip. Responding to a wave of public criticism and dissatisfaction with the results of the war against Hamas, he maintained that his government had acted responsibly, and said he didn’t want an Israeli “Fallujah” in Gaza.

Netanyahu told Channel 2 in a lengthy interview that he did not rule out reconquering Gaza and uprooting Hamas in the future – as many of his critics and detractors have demanded – if conditions necessitated such a move, but warned that such drastic action would come at a heavy price and would carry lasting consequences for Israel.

In order to drive home his point, Netanyahu referenced the US’s war in Iraq and specifically the many battles and heavy casualties it suffered in its attempt to cleanse the city of Fallujah of militant forces, an attempt which he said was quickly undone once the military left the territory.

“The US fought against a smaller Gaza called Fallujah… Fallujah is a tenth the size of Gaza. The great United States fought in Fallujah, its Gaza, sacrificed hundreds of soldiers who fought bravely… Went in once, twice, three times,” he said.

“Thousands of Iraqis were killed there. Many thousands. And in the end it went out and al-Qaeda came back.”

Netanyahu said he believed an attempt to conquer Gaza temporarily in order to oust Hamas would carry a similarly high cost in soldiers’ lives as well as in civilian casualties. “If we pay those prices, and they are heavy prices, we may need to stay there,” he said. But such a continued presence would waste precious resources at a time when Israel must also contend with threats on other fronts.

“We have al-Qaeda on the fence now in the Golan Heights,” he noted, referring to the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front which in recent days has taken over territory adjacent to the Israeli border, including Syria’s only border crossing with Israel. “The Islamic State is racing towards us and al-Qaeda is on the Golan borders… I chose in this reality not to invest all of our resources in this one arena (Gaza).”

“I believed that what we should do at this time is simply to pound them. So maybe they remain [in power] but they are pulverized; they are isolated; they cannot smuggle weaponry,” Netanyahu said. He noted that the objectives of the operation had never been to topple Hamas, only to hit it heavily enough to deter it and curtail its ability to attack Israel.

“We’ve done this,” he maintained. “We’ve dealt them a terrible, terrible blow… We’ve given Hamas a thrashing that it will remember for many years.”

“I think this creates a chance – not a certainty but a chance – for us to have lasting quiet,” he added.

Netanyahu spoke of zero tolerance for a “drizzle” of rocket attacks, vowing to hit hard in response to any further rocket-fire from Gaza. “Drizzles will be answered with a downpour” of Israeli fire, he said.

Netanyahu also downplayed his not-so-private clashes over the handling of the operation with certain government ministers, namely Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, who have both made no secret of their contempt for his reluctance to topple Hamas.

“There was some creaking,” he admitted, but said that in the end, “up to this point the government has acted as it should.”

Read more: The Times of Israel

{Matzav.com Newscenter}


5 COMMENTS

  1. Dear Mr. PM: It is not a matter of us (the IDF, that is) pulling out of Gaza; it is a matter of the Moslems pulling out completely, following which the IDF should carpet-bomb Gaza up and down, left and right (with apologies to the British, et al, who did that to Germany in WW II), then flood Gaza completely to kill the tunnel structures; after that, drain Gaza and after it has dried, return the land to the Jews who were evicted by Ariel Sharon’s government.

  2. DISAGREE WITH HIM. THE ROCKET SCENARIO WILL BE REPLAYED IN THE FUTURE ONLY BECAUSE HE DID NOT WIPE THEM OUT..HIS OWN CIVILIANS WHO WERE IN THE MAIN LINE OF FIRE WANTED NOTHING LESS THAN DESTROYING OF THE ENEMY. TIME WILL TELL IF HE WAS CORRECT IN ACCEPTING THIS CEASEFIRE. HOWEVER , ANY FUTURE FATALITIES WILL BE HIS RESPONSIBILITY–Based on his current decision..

  3. The erev rav timing is always wrong, remember Mt Sinai they could not wait one minute more for Moses, and the golden calf appeared. So the same is now, the erev rav was told by other golden calfs (UN and the west) it is time to stop and MR PM said yes sir here is your god Israel(UN and the west).

  4. The PM is telling it like it is. I do not like Mr. Netanyahu and would not have voted for him if I had been in Israel at the time of elections. However, in this case he is describing the reality. Fantasies of invading Gaza and “bombing it flat” are just that – fantasies. Israel and the US are not all-powerful, and inflicting civilian casualties at that number would brutalize Israelis (who are not as blood-thirsty as some Americans and do not enjoy killing children) as well as bringing the world’s condemnation down on us.

    ISIS and al-Qaeda are far more dangerous. Israel has limited manpower and economic resources. Mr. Netanyahu wants to keep a reserve to deal with the real barbarians of ISIS and experienced al-Qaeda sources.

    Again, I dislike Mr. Netanyahu both personally and politically, but in this case he is right. We have to figure out our priorities, and spending a huge amount of resources in Gaza when we already have some kind of truce would be a dangerous waste. ISIS and al-Qaeda are far more dangerous.

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