Peretz: Innocents paying price of conflict

Defense minister tells Caesarea forum ‘any unilateral move can take place only if it follows a real effort to hold talks’; upon hearing of innocent Palestinian killed in IDF attack in Gaza he says ‘unfortunately, this report has to do with innocent people paying a heavy price in this conflict’
Aviram Zino

Defense Minister Amir Peretz told the Caesarea forum on Wednesday after receiving word of the IDF attack on a Gaza building, “I am going through difficult times; unfortunately, this report I received has to do with innocent people paying a heavy price in this conflict.

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“As defense minister I want to try and implement my vision as a man of peace; I believe in dialogue as a solution.”

One Palestinian woman was killed and several other people were wounded Wednesday when an IDF missile aimed at a vehicle carrying terrorists struck a building.

Referring to the incessant Qassam rocket attacks on Sderot, Peretz said “I live in the city, and this gives me the moral justification to say that our policy will be based on security-related details, not on the number of protests. I will not allow demonstrations to determine the scope of IDF operations.”

The defense minister expressed his objection to a unilateral withdrawal from West Bank territories before exhausting all possibilities of negotiations with the Palestinians.

“Any unilateral move can take place only if it follows a real effort to hold talks,” he said.

Peretz also spoke of the importance of maintaining governmental stability, saying “As long as we strive for peace as our world view, as a strategic solution, I will make every effort to maintain stability in Israel.”