Another example of what’s wrong with Israeli leadership

T. Belman. Last week it was an x-general. This week an X-Shin Bet Director. Like I said last week, put the screws to the Gazans till they realize what’s good for them

Ex-Shin Bet chief: Israel must ease Gaza’s financial plight
Yaakov Peri says while Hamas does not currently want confrontation, the Jewish state would benefit from giving Gazans hope for future

TOI Staff

Former director of the Shin Bet security service urged Israel on Saturday to take steps to alleviate the economic problems in the Gaza Strip, alongside military measures to counter efforts by the Hamas terror group that rules the coastal enclave to build attack tunnels into Israel.

“Israel would do well if, in addition to the operational activities against the tunnels, it worked to alleviate the economic situation and show the residents of Gaza the prospect of an easier and more comfortable future,” said Yaakov Peri, an MK for Yesh Atid and member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the Walla news website reported.

Israel and Hamas have been exchanging fire across the border since for days, as the terror group tries to thwart IDF troops from seeking out the tunnels it has dug from Gaza into Israeli territory.

“Hamas, for its own reasons, is not interested in entering into another confrontation with Israel at this stage,” Peri said, hours after Israeli warplanes struck Hamas targets in southern Gaza following rocket fire on Israeli communities bordering the Strip.

“The dire economic situation in the Gaza Strip also makes it difficult for Hamas to initiate another conflict,” the former security chief added.

An Israeli soldier atop his tank on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip on May 6, 2016 (AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ)
An Israeli soldier atop his tank on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip on May 6, 2016 (AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ)

Peri’s message appears to contradict that of senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad, who last month argued that Gaza’s economic woes are ultimately irrelevant to the current security situation.

Speaking at an April conference on the financial state in the beleaguered coastal Strip, the director of the ministry’s Political-Military Affairs Bureau dismissed an assertion that economic development could be the solution to Gaza’s problems and mitigate the security threats to Israel that emanate from the territory.

Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said Friday that the group is not interested in an escalation of tensions, but warned that it will not tolerate Israeli troops entering the Palestinian territory.

His comments came a day after Jerusalem announced that IDF troops had located a cross-border tunnel built by Hamas into Israeli territory, the second such discovery in recent weeks.

Israel and Hamas last went to war in the summer of 2014, in a devastating 50-day conflict that saw the IDF lay waste to large swathes of the Gaza Strip and Hamas fire hundreds of rockets at Israeli population centers.

May 7, 2016 | 2 Comments »

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  1. UN official spurns Netanyahu’s Jerusalem history lesson offer
    PM wants to educate all UN staffers in Israel after UNESCO ignored Jewish ties to Temple Mount; but Mideast coordinator says they know local history ‘all too well’
    http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-official-spurns-netanyahus-jerusalem-history-lesson-offer/

    This guy netanyahu is a complete fake in my opinion and also an embarassment to all Jews. He never does anything about things… he whines to the foreigners about what they did but he never does anything…. same with illegal euro bldg in YS…. its better better to just STFU if you dont have a reply.
    BB should be closing the mount to the muslims, he should be banning unesco from Israel, PA and gaza… this guy has no pride or dignity…. everyone walks all over the Jews like garbage and then he whines and begs to the same doing the walking.
    DO SOMETHING FOR F*CKS SAKE!!!!!!!
    who cares about history lessons, or what they think,… kick them in the butt and spit in their face… there are so many targets at every checkpoint… but this guy is the biggest do nothing with the biggest mouth…. tomorrow they will all insult and walk on the Jews again. It would be less embarrassing to just keep quiet and let them walk…. he did the same with Iran, its his signature… the status quo of taking shiiite. Just give them the mount and jerusalem already.

  2. Hamas destroyed hot houses and spends resources on terrorism first and foremost. Pals are at war with each other and not just Israel. So if you want to fix Gaza get rid the terrorists and their supporters.

    Fares Akram and Daniella Cheslow
    Each day, millions of gallons of raw sewage pour into Gaza’s Mediterranean beachfront, turning miles of once-scenic coastline into a stagnant dead zone. The sewage has damaged Gaza’s limited fresh water supplies, decimated fishing zones, and is now floating northward and affecting Israel as well. “Gaza beaches are completely polluted and unsuitable for swimming and entertainment, especially in the summer,” said Ahmed Yaqoubi of the Palestinian Water Authority.
    Steen Jorgensen, country director for the World Bank in the West Bank and Gaza, said his office built a $73 million sewage treatment plant nine years ago. The facility, meant to treat 1/5 of Gaza’s sewage, would be operational if it had a reliable power supply.
    Disagreements between Hamas and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority over fuel taxes have left Gaza’s power plant functioning at reduced capacity. Israel says it supplies 125 to 140 megawatts of power a day to Gaza. “The decision of distributing the electricity falls under the responsibility of the Palestinians,” said COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian affairs.
    Israel Water Authority spokeswoman Ilana Keren said an Israeli desalination plant near Ashkelon, 10 km. north of Gaza, was shut in January and February “because of the quality of the raw water.” Most of the waste is consumed by algae, but a buildup of algae can block filters at the desalination plant, Israel’s Environment Ministry said, adding that a recent check of the water quality off Ashkelon found the beaches suitable for bathing. (AP-ABC News)

    http://www.dailyalert.org/