Israel threatens war in Gaza
ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday threatened war in Gaza and then flew to Russia to discuss Israeli freedom of action in Syria with President Vladimir Putin as a frenetic election race neared its end.
Before Netanyahu embarked on a visit to the Black Sea resort Sochi to see Putin, Russia condemned Netanyahu’s announced plan to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank after next Tuesday’s election in Israel.
In an interview, Netanyahu was questioned about persistent rocket attacks by Palestinian militants in Gaza. His opponents have accused him of failing to do enough to end the strikes on southern Israel.
“We will probably be forced – there’ll be no choice – to enter into a campaign, a war, in Gaza,” Netanyahu said. He was vague about when any such offensive war might start.
Netanyahu made the remarks two days after sirens warning of rocket fire from Hamas Islamist-run Gaza forced him off the stage at a campaign rally in southern Israel.
Israel has responded to such attacks by launching air strikes against facilities belonging to Hamas, the dominant armed group that controls the Gaza Strip.
With opinion surveys showing his right-wing Likud neck and neck with the centrist Blue and White party, Netanyahu’s Russia visit could help him burnish a statesman’s image that he has promoted throughout the campaign. Netanyahu’s election posters have featured him shaking hands with Putin and US President Donald Trump, a close ally.
“I think Israeli citizens know that if it weren’t for my connections, and meetings every three months (with Putin), we would have clashed a lot,” said Netanyahu, referring to the Russian military in Syria and Israeli forces that have been attacking Iranian-linked targets there.
“The Russian army and the Israeli military and our air force are within touching distance… the big issue is how to succeed in maintaining our freedom of action in such a crowded area,” he said on the radio.
Challengers to Netanyahu in Tuesday’s election have courted Israel’s Arab minority, hoping that a strong turn-out from this unlikely source could tip the scales in their favour.
Arabs make up 21% of Israel’s population. But frustration with disunity among Arab-dominated parties and dismay over what they see as Israel’s discriminatory practices against them helped push the community’s turn-out to a 20-year low in the last parliamentary election in April.
Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition after that race, leading to a new election.
Netanyahu’s announcement on Tuesday that he plans to annex the Jordan Valley drew condemnation from Arab lawmakers, who regularly speak out in support of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
Despite holding Israeli citizenship, many Arabs say they face discrimination in areas such as health, education and housing. Poverty among Arab citizens is 47%, compared with a national average of 18%, according to Israel’s National Insurance Institute.
No Arab party has ever served in a governing coalition, meaning they have little say in shaping Israeli policies.
With most Israeli parties having ruled out forming a coalition, some Arab lawmakers are advocating a different approach to having their voices heard.
“We don’t have a psychological barrier to being in government,” said Issawi Frej, an Arab politician in the left-wing Meretz party, which has joined the Democratic Union list backed by former prime minister Ehud Barak.