Livni: We will not hesitate to use force in Gaza if necessary
The rules regarding Gaza are clear: If there is quiet and the time is not used [by terrorists] to prepare the next attack, Israel will keep the situation calm. But if Israeli citizens are attacked, we will use force to defend them," Foreign Minister and Kadima leader Tzipi Livni said Saturday evening.
Livni was speaking at an event saluting female activists hosted by the Union of Jewish Communities in Tel Aviv. She was making her statements after a week that saw the most serious and continuous breaches of the ceasefire agreed upon by Israel and Hams five months ago.
"Israel does not want escalation, but we cannot sit idly by while the ceasefire is breached again and again. The other side should know there comes a time when Israel says 'enough is enough'," Livni said.
Referring to theme of the evening, Livni said "men have no monopoly over the term 'security' and 'defense' and no monopoly over the roles pertaining to these terms. Women can and should protect their country and they should have a role in the junctions critical to war and to peace. Women can and should lead their policy and their people."
Earlier, Defense Minister Ehud Barak was speaking at an anniversary conference of the Forum for Law and Society of the Netanya Academic College, held at the Shalom Plaza Hotel in Neve Ilan.
Barak said Israel was not unaware that a large-scale military incursion into Gaza might be in the cards. "The situation where Kassam rockets have returned to Sderot and to the Jewish area around Gaza is intolerable," Barak said. "It is intolerable and it cannot continue."
The IDF and the security establishment will continue to act boldly against Hamas and other extremist actors in the Gaza Strip. There may come a time when we need to decide upon a large-scale operation because we cannot suffer the truce being continuously breached. But, harsh words do not constitute a policy. If need be, the military and the security apparatus are ready for a decisive action and this will be painful for the other side."
Barak added, however, that "security is more than haughty words; we have already seen two years ago how acting without premeditating affects the security of Israel." Barak was alluding to the Second Lebanon War, which was perceived by many Israelis as a failure. "If a need for action arises, we will take action and succeed. But such action is no picnic, and has to be undertaken when all other options failed, and not the other way around," he said.
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