After Olmert advises local leadership to look courageously at its residents and talk to them instead of turning to government, Eli Moyal says 'prime minister better present us with solutions for Qassam fire'
Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal on Sunday evening recommended to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to "better shut up," after the prime minister said during the government meeting that "the residents of the south are being aided in a way that no other region in the country has been aided. It's time for the local leadership to stop talking only to us, but to courageously look at its residents and talk to them."
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Since the Israel Defense Forces launched its operation in the Gaza Strip, Moyal has preferred to refrain from talking on to the media, in spite of the fact that Sderot has suffered and is still suffering from rocket barrages.
He explained that he preferred not to talk against the government even when one of the rockets landed near the home of his assistant and spokesman, Yossi Pinchas Cohen. On Sunday, a rocket seriously wounded another municipality employee.
But he did not remain indifferent following Olmert's remark.
"I believe that the prime minister should have shut up at this time, even if he thinks he is right. It does not add him any respect and it is inappropriate for a prime minister to quarrel with mayors and express his opinion on their leadership," Moyal said.
'We elected him to provide solutions'
"We will not answer him for the sake of responsibility, and because we are praying for the wellbeing of IDF soldiers and for the return of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. This is not our style," he added.
However, Moyal promised: "When the soldiers complete their missions and return safely, we will respond and say all we have to say, and we do have what to say."
The mayor noted: "I always said once and again that the Qassams will land in Ashkelon and Netivot, not because I wanted this to happen but because I knew this would happen. And if the prime minister says that there are another 200,000 (residents) in the range of the Qassam, it is important that he also says what is the solution for it. We elected him to provide solutions, not his analyses."
"I don’t want to express my opinion, but the prime minister better present us with solutions for the Qassam fire," Moyal concluded.
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