Agriculture Minister (Yisrael Beitenu) Yair Shamir feels the IDF has been moving too slowly, citing it should have finished Hamas up by now. Shamir, a son of the late Prime Minister, Yair Shamir, feels that if the government had given the IDF the green light, it would have completed the tunnel mission in 10-14 days and the additional time would have been dedicated to bringing Hamas to its knees.
Speaking with Channel 2 News on Monday morning Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av, Shamir explained today, three weeks have passed. This he explains is a long time for an army like the IDF. He does not blame the military, stating the IDF was instructed to proceed at a certain pace and that is what was done.
Shamir is calling on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu not to withdraw from Gaza after destroying the tunnels, but to advance into Gaza and bring Hamas to its knees to bring peace and tranquility back to southern Israel as well as other areas of the country.
Shamir points out that to date, there have been no surprises and the IDF has acted “exactly as Hamas expected. At no point did we catch Hamas off guard”.
Shamir adds that if “we finished up the job during Cast Lead [back in 2008] we would not find ourselves in a third round of fighting with Hamas today. The minister feels that today Israel has the advantage and has gone this far, compelling the cabinet to instruct the IDF to complete the job of disarming and toppling Hamas.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
3 Responses
And “this minister” feels among other political commentators that if Ariel wouldn’t have withdrawn, we wouldn’t have the tunnel issue
The name of the late Prime Minister was Yitzhak Shamir; please correct.
And if they topple Hamas. What then? Will Gaza become a ghost town, with rusty doors flapping in the desert winds? No, someone is going to take advantage of the vacuum and continue their “holy” work. Unless Israel fills the land with a population sympathetic to it. Like Israelis.