
After the IDF launched a preemptive attack on Hezbollah early Sunday morning after receiving intelligence indicating Hezbollah was planning to strike strategic facilities in northern and central Israel, Israelis from the north of the country are upset the government does not act in the same way to prevent strikes on northern Israel. With rockets raining down once again on towns across the Galil and Golan, some northern residents are saying: “We don’t count.”
In a joint statement, the heads of three northern Israeli regional councils announced they will sever contact with all government officials until the government provides a ‘full and complete solution’ for the residents and children of the northern border communities, which includes full security for the return of the evacuees from their homes, guaranteeing the safety of all residents and approval of an economic plan for the rehabilitation of the north. In the joint statement, Mateh Asher Regional Council head Moshe Davidovich, Metula Mayor David Azoulay, and Upper Galil Reginal Council Giora Zaltz said: “We haven’t interested you for 10 and a half months, and from now on, you don’t interest us. Don’t call, don’t come, don’t send messages. We have managed alone until now, we will manage.”
Zatlz emphasized that the fighting on Sunday had not solved the problem, saying: “Even if we destroyed 6,000 missiles, that’s only 3% of their [Hezbollah’s] capabilities. The threat is only growing,”
“The prime minister made northern residents feel bad this morning. In a week, we’re supposed to start the school year. We must find a way to restore security to the residents of the north.”
Dror Gavish, who was displaced from his home in Kibbutz HaGoshrim, said that northern residents feel invisible. “We need to see reality – they [the government] don’t really see us. The government operates solely according to what’s politically beneficial for them. The north’s neglect doesn’t incur political costs, so they’re at peace with it.”
“They won’t budge an inch until they pay a political price,” Gavish said. “Or, if you ask me, until they’re replaced by a government that will have to do a better job. But even those who don’t want to change the government need to understand that they won’t risk a full-scale war with Hezbollah and Iran unless they have a good political reason.”
{Matzav.com Israel}