Newly-elected Ashdod Mayor Dr. Yechiel Lasri told Kol Chai Radio on Sunday that once he assumes his new post in City Hall, he will use all means at his disposal to bring the powers that be to the correct path towards halting rocket attacks.

Dr. Lasri was questioned in the background of Hamas threats to strike deeper into Israel, to hit Ashdod and Kiryat Gat.

Dr. Lasri stated the situation today is “extremely difficult, a state of emergency perhaps,” stating that as a mayor, his abilities are limited and ultimately, the national government must provide regional security.

He adds that the spread of rocket fire further north into Ashdod, with a population of 250,000, would signal a further violation of Israel’s sovereignty in the region.

As head of the city’s Pesach emergency committee, during recent months the mayor-elect headed efforts to prepare Ashdod for such an eventuality chas v’sholom, explaining all students from first to twelfth grades have been briefed in the hope of preparing them for the painful realities endured in the Greater Sderot Area and Ashkelon.

Ashdod is as ready as it can be the mayor-elect explained, but if chas v’sholom the situation deteriorates as Hamas threatens, the city lacks an adequate number of public shelters and other resources. He pointed out opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu stated if elected as prime minister he will halt rocket attacks, and Dr. Lasri stated we can only hope that the attacks will indeed be halted.

Dr. Lasri in last week’s municipal election unseated the longtime incumbent, Tzvi Tzilker, who held the mayoral post for over three decades.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)