Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday afternoon 7 Cheshvan visited the IDF Gaza Division, and was briefed on preparations and readiness of the IDF Southern Command forces by Southern Commander Major-General Eyal Zamir and sector brigade commanders. Also attending were Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkott, Prime Minister’s Military Secretary, Brig.-Gen. Eliezer Toledano and IDF Gaza Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Itai Virov.

Prime Minister Netanyahu visited an observation point adjacent to Gaza where he made the following remarks:

“We are managing the struggle for Israel’s security on several fronts. First of all, maintaining the calm on the Temple Mount, secondly, in Judea and Samaria, and third, in Gaza. Each of these fronts can catch fire and spread to the other.

Today I’m visiting here, with the Defense Minister, Chief of Staff, Southern Commander and field commanders, and I am impressed that the situation here is under control. In each of these sectors we are applying the policy of calming the situation by taking actions, against the instigators and against the forces of terrorism, in a responsible and measured manner, with power, and with very much power when needed. I think the language was made clear to Hamas that we consider it responsible for what happens in Gaza, and emanating from it, that we will not allow our borders to be infiltrated or attacks on our territory and our people. I am impressed that the message was well understood. ”

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon added “We are still in the midst of a wave of terrorism which we did not instigate. It is the fruit of wild incitement and lies centered around stories of violation of the status quo on Har Habayis, continued incitement which maintains that we perpetrate executions, stories that never happened. We are taking the necessary steps on all fronts, including in Yehuda and Shomron, in Gaza, and within the State of Israel of deployment and addressing the challenges ahead, particularly terrorism by individuals, certainly the result of incitement, a phenomenon we are already familiar with. We must all be alert; soldiers, policemen and citizens, and respond accordingly.

In the majority of incidents, including the one in Hebron this morning, a rapid reaction by forces the moment a fighter is threatened with a knife, then immediately the terrorist is hit to be neutralized. In this case, of course, the terrorist was killed. This is the correct way to deal with the wave of terrorism.

At the same time, there were attempts in Gaza to violate our sovereignty along the fence. In recent days, our troops have taken control of the matter. As we see, the sector is quiet. Communities are blooming and expanding. Definitely, this is our answer. We are a culture of life and prosperity, facing the culture of death and destruction, both here and over the fence, in the Golan Heights, and unfortunately, both in Jerusalem and Yehuda and Shomron.

I hope that we will continue in such a manner. And I wish to commend commanders, from the IDF and the Israel Police; soldiers, police, border police, members of the Israel Security Agency, who do an excellent job. ”

The Prime Minister then answered a number of questions:

Is construction continuing in Yehuda and Shomron?

“Yes, of course. I want to say that our commitment is clear. The international reality over the past seven years has been difficult, very difficult. Against the demand not to build even one house, we continued to build. No freezing. But we did this in a measured and responsible way, with wisdom, while preventing the threat to the settlement enterprise. But at this moment there is a threat, and the threat is a false accusation. A false accusation is that the latest wave of attacks is due to an increase in construction in the settlements – it is simply a lie. This lie, like the lie about the execution of a child, I pierce. I say things as they are, I manage it responsibly, with commitment toward construction in settlements, but also a commitment to not give in to the struggle, the international siege on us, a Security Council resolution against the settlements, including sanctions. This is not a good thing, not to settlements and not the State of Israel. This I wish to avoid.”

Asked about the Bedouin terrorist from the village of Hura who carried out the attack in the Beersheva central bus station:

“We are investigating the whole question of family reunification, revocation of citizenship and residency. We are moving it forward. Yesterday I discussed this with the Minister of the Interior. We are in a dialogue with the judiciary. It works slowly, but in the end we achieve what we want. In this context, we work against incitement. The Defense Minister rightly said, we are able to handle major sectors around us, but the real sector that produces these attacks is wild incitement by Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and from within, from the State of Israel, by the Islamic Movement. I will submit, in the coming days, legislation outlawing it. This is also a process done through dialogue with the judiciary, but we will complete it soon, and we will implement it. It is vital to Israel’s security.

We were also working on other things, demolition of homes – a terrorist’s home was destroyed yesterday – and we are accelerating the process of obtaining the demolition orders of terrorists’ homes in order to connect it to the incidents. Suicide bombers should know that the home that they leave behind will not remain standing, nor will a home ever be built on this property again. The other thing, of course, is to stop Hamas’ senior commanders. We are doing this as well. We are working on all fronts. I am pleased to see today that work is going well also on the Gaza front.”

When asked about the meeting with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:

“What is causing unrest on Har Habayis, in the streets and all these attacks? It is wild and deceitful incitement from three sources: Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the Islamic Movement in Israel. One of the tools to deal with a lie is to tell the truth. I expect from the Secretary-General and I expect from countries and responsible world leaders to tell the truth. You should pierce the lies – lies about executions, the lies that we change the status quo on Har Habayis or intend to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque, the lies that there is a huge wave of construction in the settlements, allegedly causing this frustration, and consequently also calls for the passing of resolutions in the UN against the settlements. All this we pierce, these lies, we require each entity responsible for the international community to stand against the lies and stand with the truth. It is the first prescription – to fight incitement that is based entirely on a series of lies.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)