Ministers slam AG for prohibiting punitive power cuts to Gaza - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Mon., December 03, 2007 Kislev 23, 5768

Israel Time: 06:16 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Rosner's Domain

Diplomacy

Defense

Jewish World

Opinion

National

Print Edition

Advertising

Books

Arts & Leisure

Business

Real Estate

Easy Start

Travel

Week's End

Anglo File

Hanukkah



		Defense Minister Ehud Barak. (Alberto Denkberg)

del.icio.us

Digg It! new

Last update - 02:11 12/11/2007

Ministers slam AG for prohibiting punitive power cuts to Gaza

By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: attorney general, Gaza Strip

Cabinet ministers criticized Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Sunday for barring the defense establishment from cutting off electricity to the Gaza Strip in response for persistent rocket attacks against southern Israel.

Last month, Mazuz prohibited the state from cutting off electricity to parts of the Gaza Strip, as was outlined in the plan adopted earlier by the defense establishment. The attorney general said that the plan must be examined further before such a measure can be implemented without causing a humanitarian crisis, as the prime minister had promised a week earlier not to do.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told his colleagues at the cabinet meeting on Sunday that the defense establishment was developing a technical solution which will allow Israel to curb power to the Strip without cutting it off entirely, thus avoiding a humanitarian crisis.

	Advertisement

The new plan, which calls for a technical device to be placed on Gaza power lines to significantly reduce the electricity supply, will be brought before Mazuz for approval in the near future, Barak said.

"The idea is to weaken the Hamas government, even in its ability to provide basic national services to its constituents. With this reduction [of electricity], we are implementing our separation from Gaza as a hostile entity" Barak said, adding that the state would not cross the following red lines: actions that could cause a humanitarian crisis in the Strip, or actions that would go against the wishes of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on issues that could weaken his standing.

Barak briefed the cabinet on the reduction of the supply of fuel to the Strip already underway, as well as the restrictions already in place at border crossings and on money transfers.

Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, who addressed the cabinet directly after Barak, harshly criticized Mazuz's intervention in an issue that, according to him, should be decided by the cabinet alone. He said that in the current situation "the government is paralyzed and the [attorney general's] counsel is not counsel. An adviser must give advice: it's good, it's bad. Here, the advice has become a command. The adviser [Mazuz] has become a commander of the government. There are things that advisers do, and there are things that a government does. The adviser should advise, and the government should act."

Friedmann explained that there is definitely room for legal counsel within the confines of the cabinet's considerations on whether to impose sanctions on another state or entity, because in many cases there is confusion regarding a state's actions on the international level, including actions required for self defense. In such a case, he said, "the job of the legal adviser is to present every scenario that can be interpreted in more than one way, and allow the state to decide."

Vice Premier Haim Ramon took a similar stance, saying that "it is insane that the other side is bombing and causing power outages in Sderot, and we can't impose a power outage on Gaza, even without bombing them. We are failing to do the required thing against the terrorist policy of Hamas and the persistent Qassam fire that is continuing like a plague of nature."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tried to defend the attorney general, saying that the cabinet acted wisely by following Mazuz's decision. Olmert reminded the ministers that this issue had already been examined in July of 2006, and even then it was decided that the options were limited.

Related articles:

Mazuz prohibits punitive power cuts in Gaza Strip

EU urges Israel to reconsider cuts in energy supply to Gaza

Barak gives green light to Gaza power cuts

PA seeks int'l intervention as Gaza power cuts imminent

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	Big heart
	The organs of an IDF soldier were donated to five people in Israel and Germany.


	Settler harassment
	Palestinians in the West Bank said settlers threw stones at a boy and stole his donkey.




1.	Device needed to limit Israel`s supply of malevolence	23:30	\|	chanalau, Tova	11/11/07

2.	Why does the attorney general meddle in this???	00:04	\|	David	12/11/07

3.	Weak	00:15	\|	joe ben	12/11/07

4.	Mazuz & Olmert will defend Gazans to the last Israeli child	01:15	\|	Absolute Sweden	12/11/07

5.	The attorney general	01:49	\|	Edifice	12/11/07

6.	He is saving them from	01:56	\|	Mark Lincoln	12/11/07

7.	Cuts tio Gaza	01:57	\|	Jim	12/11/07

8.	To #5	04:39	\|	Boris	12/11/07

9.	the government is paralyzed	04:39	\|	Born In The USA	12/11/07

10.	this is crazy. upside down. elected officials make decisions for	06:39	\|	ralph	12/11/07

11.	I am surprised by the size of hatred among Israeli	07:44	\|	Steve	12/11/07

12.	#1 The root of all evil	08:11	\|	Margie in Tel Aviv	12/11/07

13.	1/Tova - I agree - clever way to put it	08:18	\|	0 Degrees!	12/11/07

14.	TRUE BUT	08:21	\|	JOJO	12/11/07

15.	#12 Margie - no need to go back so far, 1948 will do	10:05	\|	Chanalau, Tova	12/11/07

16.	The AG should have nothing to do with this	17:04	\|	B	12/11/07

17.	#1	17:10	\|	B	12/11/07

18.	Taking hostages	11:34	\|	DJStahl	14/11/07

19.	SIT BACK EVERYONE AND WATCH, LET ONE ROCKET HIT A SERIOUS TARGET	05:41	\|	Elizabeth	20/11/07

20.	To Elizabeth #19	11:43	\|	David	23/11/07

21.	David...Part One	07:34	\|	Elizabeth	24/11/07

22.	David part 3	07:52	\|	Elizabeth	24/11/07

23.	DAVID, The end.	08:14	\|	Elizabeth	24/11/07

24.	BACK TO THE TOPIC AT HAND, CUT POWER, CUT WATER, CUT IMPORTS	09:24	\|	Elizabeth	24/11/07

25.	TOVA WHO R U TRYING TO KID WITH THE JEWISH NAME LOL	09:38	\|	Elizabeth	24/11/07

26.	thinking about it	05:48	\|	amazed american	03/12/07

Today Online


	Study: U.S., Israel should begin planning Iran strike
	Responses: 248


	Israel won't cut power to Gaza Strip until High Court gives okay
	Responses: 49


	Rightists slam Labor bid to compensate settler evacuation
	Responses: 75


	Bari Weiss: Do Israeli archeologists need to invent ancient Israel?
	Responses: 188


	U.S. non-Zionist Haredis break mold, take stance on peace
	Responses: 51

Rosner's Domain

The new Jews who actually love their Shabbat services

"Anyone who shows contempt for Bush - not serious person," says Olmert

Lebanon will pay the price for Annapolis (WTR)

Poll: So, was the Annapolis meeting a success?

More Headlines
05:36 Israel set to release 429 Palestinian prisoners


06:10 Four IDF troops lightly wounded by mortar shell fired from Gaza


23:52 Security forces nab 3 suspects in fatal W. Bank shooting attack


03:35 Officials: Shin Bet use emergency regulations on 17% of Gaza detainees


02:24 Historic New York synagogue celebrates $20M restoration


05:02 Court defers decision on back-to-work orders for striking teachers


04:12 Report: Israel second to last in West in terms of wages of disabled


02:48 Israeli film wins country's first two European Academy Awards


21:53 Ahmadinejad: Iran's enemies cannot break our ties with Syria


05:20 Israel allows 199 Palestinians who reside abroad to leave Gaza