Netanyahu: Gaza Offensive Stopped Too Soon

(CBS/AP)  The front-runner for Israel's election next week, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Wednesday that Israel's offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza last month did not go far enough.

Netanyahu says the government stopped the operation before the military could halt Hamas arms smuggling through tunnels under the border with Egypt. He also called for removing Hamas from power.

He told a security conference that the government "did not allow the military to plug the hole in the south."

Netanyahu said the Hamas regime in Gaza is an extremist fanatic regime backed by the extremist fanatic government of Iran. Hamas forces overran Gaza in June 2007.

"There is no choice but to uproot the Iranian-backed regime in Gaza," he said. He stopped short of saying that he would attack Gaza again to bring that about if he is elected.

Meanwhile, critics of the offensive, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, accused Israel of committing war crimes during the three-week campaign and insisted Israeli leaders be held accountable.

Polls show that Netanyahu's hawkish Likud Party and its hawkish allies would receive a majority in the new parliament after the Feb. 10 election, giving him the best chance to be named prime minister.

Netanyahu warned that any territory Israel relinquishes will be "grabbed by extremists," referring to the possibility of trading West Bank land for peace in a deal with the Palestinians.

Such an exchange is the cornerstone of current peace efforts backed by the U.S. and international community. A year of U.S.-backed negotiations between Israel and the Western-backed government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has produced no discernible progress.

Netanyahu said negotiations with the Palestinians should concentrate on economic issues and policing. "That is not a replacement for political negotiations" toward a peace treaty, he said. "It is the only path toward them."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who helped direct the Israeli assault on Gaza, is slightly behind Netanyahu in the polls. She advocates negotiating a peace treaty with Abbas but has called for stern measures against Hamas if rocket fire continues from Gaza. The other architect of the Gaza offensive, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, is far behind, with some polls showing his center-left Labor Party in fourth place.

[dmhphils]

Netanyahu said the Hamas regime in Gaza is an extremist fanatic regime backed by the extremist fanatic government of Iran. Hamas forces overran Gaza in June 2007.

"There is no choice but to uproot the Iranian-backed regime in Gaza," he said. He stopped short of saying that he would attack Gaza again to bring that about if he is elected.

Isn't it amazing how the air clears when you hear the TRUTH! It's so obvious, so unambiguous, so powerful, and refreshing......wouldn't you say? ahhhhhhhhhh thank you Netanyahu.

[antoniof123]

The Isralies didn''''t finish the job!~~~ They should have made a clean sweep of that muslem rats nest!~~~ Then sent somebody to take care of the SS grupenfuhrer Pope! Never mind the spelling!~~~ You know what I mean!
Posted by Zebraone2 at 12:41 PM : Feb 04, 2009

The picture of an idiot if we could only se your face.

[neoconrcrazy]

Never mind the spelling!~~~ You know what I mean!

Posted by Zebraone2

no, we don''t know what you mean, other than you confess to be quasi illiterate and need to sent to bed without dinner.

[neoconrcrazy]

nethanyahooo is a neocon thug, graduate of the Meyer Lansky School of Higher Criminality -

his answer to legitimate palestinian demands;
-return of their lands as per 1967
-dismantlement of all illegal settlements
- return of refugees

is bomb them, exile them, kill them, imprison them.

nethanyahooo is bad for israel, bad for America, bad for the world.

shalom

[trapbreaker]

I have a problem with warmongers in any country who use fear and death or manipulate a loving Gods words to convince others to kill. - Posted by indianaman13

The principles of the Hamas are stated in their Covenant or Charter, Following are highlights.
"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
"The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. "
"There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."
The charter states this view as an Islamic religious prophesy arising from Hadith, the oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.] The 1988 Charter also states that "renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith.."
When Hamas Nizar Rayyan was asked if he could envision a 50-year hudna (cease-fire) with Israel, Rayyan responded, "The only reason to have a hudna is to prepare yourself for battle.."

[indianaman13]

Why is it that the people who brought us the ten commandments can''t seem to remember them? Their God destroyed THEIR temple for a reason and has denied it to them repeatedly. Do you think THEIR loving god would encourage them to ignore his commandments? This guy is a ZIONIST, he wants a new temple built on the bodies and blood of innocent souls. I have nothing against the Israeli people as a whole, they, like all souls on THEIR GODS earth, they just want a peaceful life lived with friends and family so they can watch their children grow. I have a problem with warmongers in any country who use fear and death or manipulate a loving Gods words to convince others to kill.