MK (National Union) Effie Eitam, a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee and a retired IDF brigadier-general, announced that while he sees a need for a major IDF operation in Gaza, he does not favor such a move under the direction of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Eitam stated that Olmert is “unfit” to order troops into battle, and while a major military operation in Gaza is necessary, this cannot be done as long as Olmert remains in office, stating the prime minister is too occupied with his own personal matters and has proven himself unfit for such a task, as we have seen in the past.

Eitam supports a major ground forces incursion into Hamas-controlled Gaza to permit Israel to retake control of areas being used to launch rocket attacks into southern Israel. Eitam, a military and political hawk, was a major opponent of the government’s 2005 Disengagement Plan, and was among the outspoken voices against then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He and others stated that if Israel turns Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority, it will serve as a base for increasing terror and a launching pad for terror attacks against southern Israeli citizens. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)