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Top aide to Barak: IDF aiming to stop Gaza rocket fire, not crush Hamas
By Amir Oren, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Hamas, Israel News, Israel 

Israel prefers to achieve its military aims in Operation Cast Lead by way of an aerial assault though it will not be deterred from a wide-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip, a top aide to Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the American television station PBS on Wednesday.

IDF Brigadier General Mike Herzog, Barak's chief of staff, also said that Israel has no intention of toppling Hamas, though it does seek to create a deterrent balance that will reduce the threat of rocket fire at the western Negev.


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"Our aim is not to crush Hamas," Herzog said. "It's not to topple the Hamas regime. This is not the aim set forward by the cabinet to the IDF.
The aim is to change the equation, to create deterrence, so that they will stop firing for as long as possible."

"If we're going to talk about the truce or a cease-fire, we want to make sure that this is a sustainable onem," IDF Brigadier General Mike Herzog, Barak's chief of staff, told PBS on Wednesday. "We do not want to go back to a situation where our towns, and villages, and our citizens are being fired [at] daily."

"We're talking about a densely populated area in the Gaza Strip, but militarily we're, of course, much stronger than Hamas," Herzog told PBS. "But we realize that this is a high-friction conflict if you go there with boots on the ground."

"We are ready to do what it takes to bring Hamas to stop the firing of rockets on citizens, on our civilians," he said. "If we can do it through pinpointed air strikes, then so be it. If not, we're not deterred from further actions on the ground."

In reference to the recent rocket fire on Be'er Sheva, Herzog said the Hamas projectiles have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Egypt during the six-month lull (tahadiyah). Were the status quo to continue, Hamas gunmen would obtain rockets and missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv.

Herzog's interview is rare given that IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has forbidden senior officers from talking to the press during the Gaza operation. Air force and southern command officers may not be interviewed on any aspects of the operation, nor can they provide background information to journalists off the record.

Herzog, the brother of Welfare Minister Yitzhak Herzog, formerly served as a senior officer in the General Staff's intelligence and planning branch. He is considered an acting officer in his current post as Barak's chief of staff.

Ashkenazi has thus far refused to promote Herzog to the rank of general as was promised to him by Barak's predecessor, Amir Peretz. Herzog was also promised to be named the government's coordinator of activities in the territories. Tension between Barak and Ashkenazi was palpable this week over the question of whether to accept a French cease-fire initiative
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  1.   And the missiles haven`t stopped, so? 14:23  |  SDHD 01/01/09
  2.   bandaid approach to a serious wound 14:33  |  Avi 01/01/09
  3.   Aim of the war 14:44  |  J. B. 01/01/09
  4.   So when Tzipi Livni 14:58  |  Chris Linthwaite 01/01/09
  5.   I see IDF already eating its words.. 15:03  |  Abduallah 01/01/09
  6.   You are mixing your messages, guys..... 15:29  |  Johnboy 01/01/09
  7.   Linthwaite - On population density 15:55  |  SDHD 01/01/09
  8.   Johnboy doesn`t understand simple language 16:10  |  SDHD 01/01/09
  9.   Even Haaretz have to call terrorists `militants` 16:37  |  Rob 01/01/09
  10.   crushing hamas is the only solution 16:49  |  observer 01/01/09
  11.   Might Have Been Trusted 16:51  |  Mark of Lewiston 01/01/09
  12.   The Second Lebanon War. 16:53  |  MK 01/01/09
  13.   Notice what is missing every day? 17:21  |  Mark Lincoln 01/01/09
  14.   War to the End? 17:39  |  Ray 01/01/09
  15.   Wrong short-sighted objectives 18:12  |  Moshe 01/01/09
  16.   THIS HEADLINE IS THE EXACT REASON THAT THE IDF HAVE TO CONTINUE 20:02  |  glenna 01/01/09
  17.   the top aide had to remind ehud barak that ehud oldmert was 20:13  |  glenna 01/01/09
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More Headlines
20:26 Livni: Gaza truce would give Hamas legitimacy
18:43 IAF strike in Gaza kills senior Hamas political-military liaison
19:02 Barrage of Gaza rockets strikes Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, Ashdod
13:27 Get up to the minute coverage of the warfare in Gaza directly to your email
18:34 Tel Aviv, Rishon Letzion prepare bomb shelters in case of attack
15:03 Poll: Most Israelis support continuing Gaza military op
15:02 Israelis who blame Israel are not helping the Palestinians
15:01 Like in Lebanon, in Gaza Israel blinked first
11:04 IN PICTURES / Israel battles Hamas in Gaza: Day six
14:48 IDF recommends major, but brief Gaza ground offensive
13:57 AMIRA HASS / Thousands of Gazans near Rafah displaced by IAF bombing of tunnels
18:00 12 Palestinians hurt in Gaza fighting being treated in Israeli hopsitals
11:32 Top aide to Barak: IDF aiming to stop Gaza rocket fire, not crush Hamas
17:59 Czech FM: Finding Gaza truce is a 'main role' of the EU
06:48 ANALYSIS / What are Israel's options in the Gaza Strip?
17:23 Bernard Henri Levy among 6 Jews said targeted by Islamist group
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