MK Benny Gantz spoke in Ofra today and declared that Israel needed to maintain control of all the land it has taken since the war broke out.
National Unity leader Benny Gantz stated today that the establishment of a Palestinian state contradicts Israel’s security.
Speaking in the Binyamin region town of Ofra, Gantz said: “The State of Israel cannot allow a direct and significant threat to its citizens at any borders. Therefore, we need to maintain security control and keep freedom of action in Gaza, in Judea and Samaria, in southern Lebanon, and along the border with Syria. The implication is clear, and anyone who talks about a Palestinian state or withdrawals is simply delusional.”
“In this context, the disengagement was a move with many problems. But the greatest mistake, in my opinion, was the eviction of the northern border of Gaza. We should have stayed there to maintain control over Gaza, and we should have stayed there to inform the world that the 67 lines are not relevant. This has been my position for many years.”
“From that perspective, in one of the first cabinet meetings, I was the one who raised the need to take territory in Gaza for two reasons: first to protect our citizens, and to create a perimeter that separates them from Gaza in the Gaza Strip, focusing on the northern part of the strip. And the second, as part of the price that must be exacted from Hamas at least until its regime is changed.”
“I will say honestly, at this time, I am in favor of full security control, but I believe that returning civilians to Gaza would be a security mistake and divide the nation at a time when we need unity. Israel needs to make a decision that we will not allow any wide-scale invasion threat to develop on our borders, and we will take proactive steps if such a threat develops,” he concluded.
Before that, the President of the State spoke about the importance of Israeli expansion. “Every time again during my many visits all over the country and certainly in Judea and Samaria, or when I fly over the country in helicopters, I am increasingly aware of how settlement is a vital, magnificent, and thriving enterprise, how much settlement is the shield of Israel in every sense of the word.”
