Israeli Leaders Respond to Truce Collapse

“It needs both sides to commit themselves to the ceasefire, so if we are attacked by Hamas, then we will respond.”

—Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Yilgal Palmor, in an interview with Bridges for Peace regarding Mashaal’s statements

“There’s a limit to what Israel can absorb, and at the moment it’s like we’re standing with a stopwatch in hand…The Israel Defense Force has never been in a greater state of readiness, and in the case of an attack, it will know how to operate in the best way…If there’s no calm in Israel, there won’t be calm in Gaza either…Israel won’t accept a half-truce.”

—Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, December 19, 2008, hours after the end of a six-month long Gaza ceasefire

“For three years, the ministers of Kadima have been burying their heads in the sand, and that needs to change. In the long term, we have no choice but to topple the Hamas rule in Gaza. But in the short term, we have to go from the politics of pacifism to the politics of active attack.”

—Likud Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, December 21, 2008, in Sderot, after Hamas rockets pummeled the community

“It’s inconceivable that rockets are landing in Sderot and the surrounding area, day after day, month after month, and the government of Israel is doing nothing to stop it. I have no doubt that if Britain or France or Egypt came under attack, they would operate against the threat immediately. We have to go on military offensive because you cannot simply ask terrorists to lay down their weapons.”

—Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz, December 21, 2008

“A government under my leadership would topple Hamas in Gaza using military, economic, and diplomatic means. As long as Israel is fired upon, Israel must respond to restore its deterrence and stop the fire. That’s what the government must do and will do under me.”

—Kadima Leader Tzipi Livni, December 21, 2008