Netanyahu in Golan
Photo: Avihu Shapira
Netanyahu: Likud will keep Golan Heights
While PM Olmert meets with Turkish counterpart to discuss talks with Syria, Likud candidates tour northern Israel. 'We don't know what Olmert will agree to behind closed doors,' says party leader
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's visit to Turkey to advance peace talks with Syria stirred upset responses from Likud faction members and officials touring the Golan Heights on Monday.
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"We don't know what Olmert is going to agree on behind closed doors," said Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu. "We are here to state unequivocally: A Likud-led government will stay on the Golan Heights and keep them as a strategic asset."
Speaking with former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon and former Commander of the Northern Front Yossi Peled at his sides, Netanyahu continued, "Israel's citizens expect the government to protect their security 365 days a year and not try to use various politicians to shirk responsibility two months before elections by making indirect statements."
Likud members in Golan Heights (Photo: Avihu Shapira)
Yaalon also commented on negotiations with Syria, saying, "You don't need to be a military expert to understand from here why the 1967 border is not defendable from this angle."
"They are trying to sell us in Turkey. The Golan is the oxygen of the State of the Jews. To discuss it is potential suicide for the State of Israel, and Kadima's decline," added Peled.
The two hosts of the Likud's visit, Golan Regional Council head Eli Malka and Katzrin Local Council head Sami Bar-Lev were moved by the visitors' statements.
"This is a very important visit for the residents of the Golan," said Malka.
