Rather than provide concrete solutions to the increasingly difficult situation in the Greater Sderot Area, in what is being perceived as a chutzpa and turning a blind eye to his responsibility, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, a retired IDF major-general and Gaza commander, ridiculed the Sderot area community, stating Jerusalemites have endured the worst, bus bombings and terror attacks that claimed hundreds of lives, and they did not complain. An angry minister was responding to accusations by Gaza lobbyists that the government is not doing what it should to address the non-stop rocket fire.

Vilnai stated that as a Jerusalemite, he never complained over sleepless nights and ongoing threats, seemingly trying to discredit Greater Sderot Residents for challenging the government’s inadequate response.

Interestingly, the deputy minister did not make reference to former governments’ strong responses to limited Katyusha rocket attacks into northern Israel, but found it appropriate to attack the victims whom have been enduring rockets attacks for some eight years, during which literally thousands of mortar shells, Kassam rockets and Katyusha rockets have pounded their homes, workplaces, schools and brought life to a standstill.

Based on Vilnai’s statements, the fact that hundreds of citizens have not been killed in the attacks seems to minimize their severity and perhaps even justify the government’s nonfeasance.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)