Is Minister Gideon Ezra seeing something new? The cabinet ministers are expected to meet Wednesday morning to decide whether to expand the military campaign to the Litani River.
Several hours before the meeting, Environment Minister Gideo Ezra told Ynet that "Hizbullah is showing signs of breaking down. The Hizbullah members kidnapped by the IDF in their sleep reveal that the organization is tired."
According to Ezra, "we should wait and continue the fighting. I estimate they can be broken down. Israel cannot belittle even one quarter of a rocket, not to mention hundreds and thousands. Even one rocket a week makes the entire north crazy. If we stop now, it's like we didn’t do a thing."
Many of the government ministers share Ezra's view, and will be required to decided whether to accept Defense Minister Amir Peretz's request and the Israel Defense Forces' demand to expand the operation.
Ezra: "Israel must not agree to the ongoing rocket fire at any cost. The diplomatic activity to stop the rocket fire must be the result of out military activity. The power of the enemy standing in front of us is undoubtedly decreasing."
Minister Ezra believes that the government is doing the right thing and that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is required to measure his steps between the demands of the Americans, on the one hand, who are working to reach a ceasefire, and the Israeli military activity which is aimed at breaking Hizbullah's rocket launching capabilities.
Like Olmert,
Ezra also believes that Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's proposal to station a force of 15,000 soldiers in southern Lebanon is interesting and should be examined. He expects a multinational force to be stationed in southern Lebanon with the authority to use weapons after Israel's military operation is completed.
According to Ezra, "the rockets must be eliminated and we must leave a fenced and clear area with a border in the south and in the north, into which the multinational force will enter. The border in the north can be the Litani, and in the south it is of course the Blue Line, the international borderline between Israel and Lebanon. Until the force arrives, the military operation must continue."
RSS
