Olmert: Hizbullah not interested in using its missiles
Prime minister lauds achievements of Second Lebanon War, says Shiite group 'not inclined' to use its weapons against Israel. Olmert recommends against wide-scale incursion in Gaza that may cost Israel more than it's willing to pay
Hizbullah may have doubled its missile arsenal in recent months, but the Lebanese organization is not likely to put them to use, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
said in a briefing to the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday.
Warning
Barak: Hizbullah has gotten stronger / Hanan Greenberg
Defense minister says Shiite group has acquired more high quality-rockets, hints Second Lebanon War was not unavoidable. Barak: Decision for broad Gaza incursion has yet to be made
"Hizbullah's arsenal would have doubled in any case. The question is not whether they have missiles, but whether they are inclined to launch them. To the best of my judgment, they are not, and this as a result of the war," Olmert stated.
According to the prime minister, "If it weren't for the war, Hizbullah would have received the same amount of weapons as it does today, but we would have been forced to deal with it on a daily basis on the northern border."
Comparing the situation in Israel's north to the ongoing Qassam attacks in the western Negev, Olmert added, "We had great accomplishments in the north, and I wish that the same situation would have prevailed in the south."
'Lowest terror rate in years'
Olmert was careful not to announce any intention to launch a wide-scale incursion in Gaza, opting to laud the IDF's current operation in the area instead. "Don't take what we are doing there lightly. There is a war going on there and we are conducting it wisely.
"I highly recommend that we do not get involved in operations and costs that in no way compare to the problems we are dealing with (the Qassam attacks, A.M.)," said Olmert, stressing he did not underestimate the severity of the rockets and the pain they caused to southern residents.
"Hundreds of fatalities among the terror organizations in Gaza in the last year are a substantial price for the terror groups. We will not stop these operations, we shall fight cleverly and with precision, and not with bold statements and hash words.
"The public is not stupid. People remember the thousands of mortars and rockets that were fired while we were still inside the Strip. The public also remembers that 2007 saw the lowest terror rate in recent years," he concluded.
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