Last update - 00:00 27/09/2006
Olmert tells ministers to end talk of negotiations with Syria
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent, and the Associated Press
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday called on his cabinet ministers to stop making statements about possible negotiations with Syria.
"There is one policy on the Syrian issue and there are no negotiations with Syria," Olmert told ministers, meeting participants said.
"Whoever doesn't agree doesn't have to be in the government and I am not willing to have arguments on the Syrian issue through the media," the prime minister said.
Olmert was apparently referring to comments by Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who said Tuesday during a meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel should not rule out negotiations with Syria.
Olmert also criticized Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal, hinting that he had exploited the barrage of Qassam rockets fired at his town for political gain. According to Olmert, Sderot was granted full assistance by the state, and Moyal in turn attacked and slandered the government.
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter told the cabinet that the defense establishment has not provided the residents of Sderot and other communities near the Gaza Strip with a suitable response to the Qassam fire and must "adopt a harsher response."
Dichter is a resident of the southern city of Ashkelon, close to the border with the Gaza Strip and well within the range of Qassams. He said that there is no need to reoccupy the Gaza Strip, but Israel needs to mount operations that will deter the Palestinian Authority and Hamas from allowing Qassam fire to continue.
"We must strike where it's needed and extract a price. The government must adopt a new strategy in regard to Gaza and the ongoing Qassam fire," said the former head of the Shin Bet security service.