Defense Minister Amir Peretz and outgoing Labor chairman said on Wednesday that said Israel must accept the Saudi initiative as a starting point for negotiations and not ignore the "voices of peace coming from Damascus.

"At the same time we must not ignore the threats of war there," Peretz said, adding that "If there is any readiness for peace negotiations, we must respond and examine every possibility of implementing it."

In this era of wars of missiles of all types and ranges, the civilian and military front have become one, Peretz said.

	Advertisement

"It took a civilian defense minister, who came from the people and experienced the Qassam rockets for years, to appear and ring the alarm and say, 'it's time we saw things in a different light,'" Peretz said at the Prime Minister's Conference on Local Government at Tel Aviv University.

He did not mention the results of the Labor primaries and refused to answer questions about the leadership elections, in which he came third and was ousted as party leader.

Peretz said Israel has decided on introducing active defense systems against rockets and has made considerable investments in protecting the communities along the border with the Gaza Strip.

Referring to Sderot, Peretz said: "The fire has been going on for seven years, but public institutions or private structures have not been protected. ... From the moment I entered this office I made decisions for unprecedented action in this matter. We have no wish to enter Gaza, certainly not to stay there. We'll do all we can and must do to strike the terror activists, and nobody in the terror organizations will be immune. But if we have no choice we'll act in Gaza as well."

Peretz said that private initiatives are striving to replace state institutions. "I'm sure that the passing year will be a turning point. This is the year in which eyes have opened and the blindness stopped," he said.