Olmert: Don't preach to us
Photo: Reuters
Olmert tells Europe to stop preaching to Israel
In interview with German newspaper PM tells European leaders to stop preaching to him about civilian war casualties; says ‘European countries attacked Kosovo and killed 10,000 civilians. 10,000!’
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
told European leaders to stop preaching to him about civilian war casualties in an interview published on Sunday in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
Olmert also said it would not be possible to completely destroy Hizbullah and insisted he did not underestimate them, saying they had fired just 3,000 of their arsenal of 15,000 rockets so far.
"Where do they get the right to preach to Israel?" Olmert said when asked about criticism from European capitals of Israeli military operations that have led to a heavy civilian toll.
"European countries attacked Kosovo and killed 10,000 civilians. Ten thousand! And none of these countries had to suffer before that from a single rocket.
"I'm not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo. But please: Don't preach to us about the treatment of civilians."
Kosovo became a UN protectorate in June 1999 after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign forced out Serb security forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians during a rebel insurgency by separatist Albanian guerrillas.
'Not possible to completely destroy them'
The New York-based Human Rights Watch estimates about 500 civilians were killed in the NATO bombing in Kosovo.
Some 10,000 Albanians died in Serbia's 1998-99 counter-insurgency war and there were allegations of random brutality by both sides.
In the Welt am Sonntag interview, Olmert was asked if he had underestimated Hizbullah.
"No, we know that they have only fired 3,000 rockets so far and that they have 15,000," he said. "The question is more: If Hizbullah knew what the consequences of their attack would be, would they nevertheless have done it? I don't think so."
Olmert said Hizbullah was being defeated but it was not possible to eradicate a grass-roots guerrilla movement.
"They are beaten but it is not possible to completely destroy them. Israel has nevertheless been more successful than any other country in the battle against a guerrilla organization."
