Likud Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, known to be among those close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, caused a storm on Thursday when he announced that there is a difference between Gaza border communities and Tel Aviv. The minister played down the severity of the almost 500 rockets that pounded Southern Israel earlier in the week.

The statement comes after a week that included hundreds of Hamas rockets pounding the southern communities, leading to one death, many injuries and significant property damage. Some families are now homeless as a result of the damage from the rocket attacks. There have been angry protests by southern residents since Israel accepted yet another Hamas ceasefire as Gaza residents celebrated.

Southern Israeli residents are calling for the resignation of the government, as they feel abandoned and betrayed. Hanegbi’s statement could not have come at a worse time for Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is already under fire and dealing with the resignation of his defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman.

Hanegbi insisted that Hamas’ response was minor, as it amounted to only firing rockets at Gaza border communities. He differentiated between the Gaza envelope and Tel Aviv, which he refers to as the “economic capital of Israel”. The minister is well-aware of this week’s events but was still brazen enough to minimize the latest round of Hamas rocket fire and the impact it had and has on the lives of residents of the Gaza border communities.

Hanegbi told Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) during an interview that Hamas has reason to attack, seemingly referring to the undercover operation that went sour in Gaza, leading to the death of an IDF Lt.-Colonel, the injuring of another officer, and the killing of seven Gazans. He explained Hamas’ taking revenge this week was minor, that rocket fire was concentrated on the Gaza border areas, clearly signaling they didn’t want to enter into a major conflict with Israel, for if the opposite were to be true, Hamas would have bombed Tel Aviv.

He clarified that he is not saying what is being said and felt by residents of Southern Israel is not negligible, but nonetheless, it cannot be compared to the economic capital of the nation, Tel Aviv.

Hanegbi came under fire immediately following his tasteless comment, including from Minister of Culture (Likud) Miri Regev, MK (Machane Tzioni) Itzik Shmuli (who is a resident of Dimona), Minister of Agriculture (Bayit Yehudi) Uri Ariel and many others, from the coalition and opposition alike.

Responding to the shouts of criticism against him, Hanegbi said, “I have never made a distinction between the lives of the residents of the Gaza border communities and the lives of the residents of Tel Aviv. If so, I am sorry about this. The Israeli government has been working to protect the residents of the area with all its might. IDF soldiers have been dealing with constant attacks at the border fence for many months, and billions are being invested in building an underground barrier that will prevent terrorist tunnels from entering the settlements. This morning’s remarks were intended to mean that a broad campaign in Gaza would inevitably lead to many victims among our fighters, massive fire on Tel Aviv, severe economic damage, damage to the air traffic to Israel and implications regarding the economy and tourism. At the end of the campaign, we would find ourselves at precisely the same point as we are today, so we preferred to reach a calm as long as possible, without escalation, for the residents of the south and of the entire country. These words do not express a different attitude towards the residents of the south, courageous and dedicated people whose government is committed to their security as it is committed to all Israeli citizens”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)