Livni - Hamas is responsible
Photo: Yaron Brener
Dichter - Shutting crossings won't stop rockets
Photo: Yehuda Haviv
Livni: No such thing as a partial lull
Kadima chairwoman addresses rocket barrages from Gaza at party meeting, rejects terminology of partial truce. Fellow Kadima Minister Dichter says Israel must move beyond short-sighted reactions to attacks, adopt policies that will deter terror groups
Kadima chairwoman, Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni addressed the renewed rocket fire from Gaza at a party meeting on Monday, saying "there is no such thing as a partial lull – it's either there or it isn't, and
Analysis
Ron Ben-Yishai
Ultimately, decision on whether Gaza Strip lull will continue is in Israel’s hands
today it isn't there." Livni stressed that Israel sees Hamas as solely responsible for the situation.
Over 10 rockets have been fired from northern Gaza towards Israel on Monday, some just as Defense Minister Ehud Barak left the area after paying a visit to the frequently bombarded town of Sderot along with British Foreign Minister David Miliband.
Minister Livni confirmed she has been briefed on the burgeoning economic plan being drafted by the Finance Ministry, and said she had asked Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On to include funds for the second phase of rocket fortification for Gaza-vicinity communities in the new economic plan.
Livni also addressed the assassination of mobster Yakov Alperon in Tel Aviv earlier in the day, calling it unacceptable. "As far as we are concerned, it is just as important to go after criminal gangs as it is to go after foreign threats," she said.
Fellow Kadima official, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter, also discussed the attacks from Gaza at the meeting. Israel "must avoid looking for small solutions. Killing two or three terrorists is a solution that just brings rockets, the response to Hamas' attacks must be planned," he said.
Dichter added that the IDF and Shin Bet must propose solutions that will have a deterrent effect. "Flipping off the (electricity) switch and closing the crossings isn't going to stop terror," he said.
