Ashkenazi: First interception system, then fortification

The director-general, Major General (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi, suggested to allot the funds to finance a rocket interception system, instead of fortifying 8,000 houses in Sderot and the western Negev, contrary to a request made by Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

During the discussion, Ashkenazi said: "If we are allotted NIS 900 million, I would invest them in Qassam interception systems, not in fortification. From the aspect of cost and value or how to achieve a good return from this money, we have to develop interception systems."

Peretz, as opposed to his office's director-general, believes that the necessary step that the government must take is fortifying the residential structures in the communities near Gaza.

Fortifying homes within a 9-kilometer (5.589-mile) radius of Gaza would achieve two goals in Peretz's opinion: Improving the sense of personal safety for residents and "give them the feeling that the country is embracing them."

Peretz noted that fortifying a house costs NIS 120,000 (USD 27,800) and that the a plan to fortify 8,000 homes would cost approximately NIS 900 mil (USD 208,816,600).

Despite the differences of opinion, Peretz ordered the ministry to allocate the appropriate resources for the advancement of the interception systems. It remains unclear if Peretz will simultaneously pursue funding for the fortification of all residential homes near Gaza.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that he would convene a special meeting regarding the fortification issue; the government will then try to locate the necessary funds for such a project.

'Unprecedented impertinence'

Earlier, it was reported that Peretz informed the government that he had ordered the recommencement of developing and manufacturing anti-missile systems that would be operated against the Qassam attacks from Gaza.

MK Shai Hermesh (Kadima) objected to Ashkenazi's proposal and told Ynet that he saw the pitch as "unprecedented impertinence, which would abandon thousands of households on the front lines to their fate.

"Gabi Ashkenazi is manipulating the prime minister to obtain the budget for developing anti-missile systems, which the IDF is supposed to be doing regardless of the residents. Instead of fortifying based on the real figures, Ashkenazi is interested in exaggerate the figures to get funds he wouldn't have gotten any other way."

"The government isn't doing anything," said Hermesh, who resides in a Gaza vicinity community. "My neighbors and I are under fire, my house is bombarded. It's impossible to continue living like this. The government of Israel is abandoning its residents."

Hermesh also added that four months ago the government received a plan from the Home Front Command that was meant to provide an answer for the safety of the area's residents.

"The plan proposed the immediate planning of the required bomb shelters," said Hermesh, "a process that would have taken about six months. If it had been implemented on time, we could have started constructing shelters today. But the Prime Minister's Office and the Finance Ministry both chose to reject the proposal, each for their own reasons. The Finance Ministry wanted to save money and at the PM's Office someone had the entertaining thought that the Qassam attacks would stop."