‘Israel will react strongly to attacks’

The Jerusalem Post (Link) (January 10, 2010)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday opened the weekly cabinet meeting with a warning for terrorists and those who incite to violence against Israel, vowing to respond decisively and strongly to any attack.

Twenty rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel from Gaza this past week, Netanyahu told the cabinet ministers.

The IAF immediately reacted by attacking rocket manufacturing plants and tunnels �used by Iran to smuggle missiles and rockets into the Strip,� the premier said, reiterating that Israel would continue to react swiftly and mightily to the firing of rockets into its territory.

The cabinet meeting centered on the frozen Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, with the prime minister sending a resounding message to Palestinian Authority leaders and accusing them of failing to prevent incitement in their territory.

�However, it is not just missiles and rockets that jeopardize our security and drive peace further away. Words too can be dangerous,� Netanyahu said. �Incitement continues in schools under the jurisdiction of the PA and in its official media networks ... This is not the way to make peace.� [See MEMRI for examples.]

Netanyahu stressed that doing away with incitement was necessary for the two peoples to achieve true peace. He explained that the glorification of female terrorist Dalal al-Maghrabi, one of the perpetrators of the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre in which 38 Israeli civilians were killed, could only serve to incite to more violence.

Calling the killers of Rabbi Meir Chai shahids also constitutes an expression of support for terrorism by PA leaders, the prime minister said.

�Peace is achieved by education for reconciliation, by encouraging good neighborly relations and promoting mutual respect,� he concluded.