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Livni, Ramon demand reappraisal of lull
Following ongoing rocket fire from Gaza, foreign minister and vice premier want government to reassess truce with Hamas. 'We must respond with fire to rockets,' says aide to Livni. Ramon: Ceasefire failed both in terms of calm in southern communities, Gilad Shalit's release
Roni Sofer
With 12 days left before the end of the ceasefire
with Hamas,
and with the Knesset elections in the horizon, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
and Vice Premier Haim Ramon demanded Saturday night that Israel
reassess the truce and said they would raise this demand at Sunday's cabinet meeting.
"We must respond with fire to the rocket fire from Gaza," said an aide to Livni.
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In light of the ongoing fire from Gaza, Minister Ramon also called on the government not to wait. "The truce failed, both in terms of (kidnapped soldier) Gilad Shalit's
release and in terms of the calm in the south.
"Missiles fired at the south over the weekend are an intolerable reality, and the lull must end now," he told Ynet.
He reiterated his demand that Israel work immediately to bring down the Hamas government in Gaza.
"We can no longer say that these are Palestinian violations of the truce. There is no truce and we must tell the truth. In such a situation Israel must be free to act against Hamas and the terror organizations from Gaza.
"We must give an okay to fire freely at the sources of the rocket fire, we must work to cause blackouts in Gaza and damage other infrastructures if the rocket and mortar fire continues."
Ramon went on to slam Defense Minister Ehud Barak,
saying that "we've seen that all the hopes presented by Barak, that the truce will lead to Gilad Shalit's release, have failed. Gamas today is stronger than ever.
"I have a bitter argument with the defense minister, who brought this disappointing truce. His perception of the truce has failed miserably, and he must admit it.
"The current reality is intolerable, and I call for an urgent cabinet meeting in order to enforce the government's decision to bring down the Hamas government in Gaza."
Barak's Labor Party
said in response to Ramon's claim that the ceasefire has failed, "We have seen Ramon's rolling tongue and recklessness in the past. Haim Ramon will not be the one to teach us about reasoning and responsibility."
A Likud
official said that "the ongoing, unanswered rocket fire is another expression of the ongoing weakness of the Livni and Kadima
government. Israel must take its security-related fate in its hands and restore its deterrence capability."
The government is expected Sunday to approve the completion of the fortification of private homes in the southern town of Sderot and the Gaza vicinity communities.
Some NIS 700 million ($175.5 million) are to be invested in the fortification, which will include the securing of bomb shelters in 6,000 houses which were not fortified in the first stage. NIS 200 million ($50.14) will be allotted for construction in 2009.
Another issue expected to be approved by the government is the strengthening of communities in the periphery in the Negev, the Galilee and the Golan Heights. The plan includes 60 communities, 30 of them urban and 30 rural, including communities of minorities.
The government is set to approve the appointment of a steering committee for the project through the Jewish Agency. A large part of the project includes the strengthening of the Gaza vicinity communities, focusing on Sderot.
The decision was explained by the fact that in communities suffering from rockets and mortars, the population's strength is damaged. The project is aimed at bolstering the residents and preventing them from leaving.
The project's budget totals NIS 36.6 million ($9.17 million), NIS 28 million ($7 million) of them from the Prime Minister's Office budget and NIS 8.6 million ($2.15 million) from the Jewish agency's settlement department.
Raanan Dinur, director-general of the Prime Minister's Office, who is in charge of the project, said ahead of Sunday's cabinet meeting, "We'll strengthen Sderot and the Gaza vicinity with a young and high quality population.
"This move is important both for changing the demographic trend in the area and for strengthening the community strength. There are great demands and I believe we'll meet the objectives we set for ourselves for this goal."
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