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Defense Minister Ehud Barak. (Maya Levin / Jini) Last update - 01:27 12/05/2008 Barak: We strive toward peace, but IDF ready for any challenge By Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Hamas  Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday emphasized Israel's peaceful intentions alongside affirming the army's readiness for any eventuality, speaking at a ceremony marking 63 years since the victory over Nazi Germany. "We strive toward peace, but everyone knows that the Israel Defense Forces and the security establishment are following, watching and ready for every challenge and every test which is likely to be forced upon us," Barak said at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The defense Minister also stated: "In these very days, one eye watches and views what is happening in the Gaza Strip, while the second eye watches what is going on in Lebanon and Syria. And, of course, both also view the developments in Iran." Advertisement Earlier Sunday, President Shimon Peres said that in due time, Israel would see a future free from the threat of rocket barrages from the Gaza Strip, saying, "Hamas has rockets, but no future." The president was speaking in response to the ongoing Headline from Gaza. "We defeated strong forces which seemed inconquerable," he said, adding that in the future Israel would be "the nation capable of simultaneously winning and advocating peace." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed earlier Sunday to take "strong action" to stop Gaza militants from attacking Israel, clouding an upcoming visit by an Egyptian mediator laboring to wring a truce from the warring sides. Olmert spoke just hours before the funeral of 48-year-old Jimmy Kdoshim, who was killed Friday when a mortar shell fired from Gaza struck his home in southern Israel. The prime minister held Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers responsible for the man's death and said the situation in Gaza must change. "Either there will be quiet or Israel will take strong action that eventually will bring quiet," Olmert said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting. Israel will host an Egyptian mediator on Monday to hear a proposal for a truce with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, though Israel would still shun direct negotiations with the group, Israeli officials said. Following talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in Cairo last month, Hamas offered a six-month halt to hostilities in Gaza if Israel were also to lift an embargo on the coastal Palestinian territory. A spokesman for Olmert rebuffed the initiative when it was broached, but Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai signalled possible flexibility on Sunday. "Omar Suleiman will come, we will listen to him, we will confer, we will see what he is offering, and on that basis we will make decisions," he told Israel Radio. "As of now, there is nothing on the table for discussion...We have no dialogue with an organization that flies the flag of our destruction," Vilnai said in reference to Hamas's refusal to forswear violence and recognize Israel. The United States has endorsed Cairo's mediation in hope of curbing violence that threatens to derail peace talks between Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas's Western-backed and secular rival. A senior Israeli official said this month that Israel would likely agree to an informal ceasefire in Gaza if cross-border rocket attacks and arms smuggling into the territory ended. Egypt would want to parlay any Gaza truce into a similar future deal in the West Bank. Cairo's plan also includes attempts to reconcile Hamas, which rules Gaza, and Abbas's Fatah movement, which runs the Palestinian Authority from its West Bank base. Hamas seized Gaza from Fatah last June, prompting Israel to step up economic sanctions and Egypt to shut its border with the coastal enclave. That border was temporarily opened on Saturday to allow sick and wounded Palestinians to seek treatment abroad. Separately, Gaza's only power plant was forced to shut down due to a lack of fuel deliveries from Israel. Israeli officials said the EU-funded shipments would resume on Sunday. Olmert, whose domestic standing has been sapped by a police investigation into his finances, pledged in a speech on Saturday to press ahead with peace talks with Abbas while responding harshly to attacks from Gaza. "We will not desist from our actions and the other side knows how painful and harsh can be the blow that it will suffer," he said. "We will not relent until there will be full security for the citizens of Israel's south." Related articles: Lebanon PM: Hezbollah did to Beirut what Israel didn't dare Ex-IDF Chief: Hezbollah rule in Lebanon may help Israel beat it UN: Israel must probe death of teacher we employed in Gaza Bookmark to del.icio.us   Death of a heroine Irena Sendler, who saved 2,500 Jews during the Holocaust, dies at 98. Apocalyptic tidings Holy See warns of nightmarish perils if Mideast nuclear arms race is not halted.   1.   The meaning of a ceasefire. 13:38  |  Jean Van Daem 11/05/08   2.   Egypt does not want them 15:50  |  Gary Schroeder 11/05/08   3.   # 2 Gary Schroeder - friendly correction: 16:04  |  17 11/05/08   4.   OLMERT`S DECLARATION OF 17:04  |  Robert 11/05/08   5.   Strong Action 17:04  |  Steve Gure 11/05/08   6.   Words words words 17:10  |  Sam 11/05/08   7.   Olmert has a Yellow Stripe on his back 17:11  |  Gilbert 11/05/08   8.   Enough with words. It is time to act....! 17:15  |  Bernard 11/05/08   9.   Olmert: How to win Friends 17:20  |  Steve 11/05/08   10.   We are fed up of your futile threats 17:39  |  Rafi 11/05/08   11.   The `YES MINISTER` Cabinet votes with one Voice 18:01  |  Dolly 11/05/08   12.   Barking Olmert: Israel will take `strong action` 18:07  |  sirius 11/05/08   13.   How we will act- not now. 18:34  |  Vital 11/05/08   14.   One more friendly correction to Gary Schroeder 18:40  |  Pervert 11/05/08   15.   Olmert 18:43  |  Chiam 11/05/08   16.   Olmerts false promises 18:43  |  Nemesis 11/05/08   17.   News Agencies says "Israel will host an Egyptian mediator on 18:45  |  Joseph . E 11/05/08   18.   Get rid already of the idiots! 18:45  |  Pervert 11/05/08   19.   Control??? 18:46  |  Joe 11/05/08   20.   WHAT A SICK JOKE 18:53  |  CHAIM 11/05/08   21.   WHAT A SICK JOKE 18:53  |  CHAIM 11/05/08   22.   Pray for Israel 19:00  |  Steve 11/05/08   23.   action in Gaza? your kidding 19:31  |  Joseph 11/05/08   24.   Olmert, best Prime Minister ever ! 19:37  |  just kidding 11/05/08   25.   THE BIGGEST STUPIDITY I HAVE EVR WITNESSED IN MY LIFE 20:15  |  PalestniansAreA Myth 11/05/08   26.   Olmert WONT Do anything,BUSH is coming 20:16  |  ROBOCOP 11/05/08   27.   Olmert and Peres talking about Hamas rockets 20:22  |  Samuel I. Popack 11/05/08   28.   To CHAIM # 20 & 21 - How right you are...... 20:26  |  Natasha 11/05/08   29.   Olmert,Bush and Barak should visit Sderot 20:39  |  ROBOCOP 11/05/08   30.   CHAIM # 20 & # 21 - OLMERT 20:44  |  Onlooker 11/05/08   31.   lebanon dont die 20:56  |  issam ghallab venez 11/05/08   32.   Peres knows too much..... 20:59  |  The Threadmill 11/05/08   33.   And Israel has no future if it allows the rockets to continue 21:19  |  Murray the Mongoose 11/05/08   34.   "Future" is Peres` new cliché. 00:35  |  Fortuna Benmayor 12/05/08   35.   Am I afraid of Arabs? 01:29  |  Citizen Zero 12/05/08   36.   And the third eye... 01:42  |  Maureen Ann 12/05/08   37.   The Ehuds ought to make a pre-recorded record 01:44  |  words vs. kassams 12/05/08   38.   LONG LIVE ISRAEL 03:10  |  rune 12/05/08   39.   Israel is doomed to fail 03:31  |  *BEN JABO 12/05/08   40.   Israel must continue it`s collective punishment of Gaza citizens 03:36  |  *BEN JABO 12/05/08   41.   Omert`s distraction 03:47  |  Sam C 12/05/08   42.   no. 22, Steve - what are your ideas? 03:52  |  Sam C 12/05/08   43.   Abbas the moderate. 07:56  |  Jean Van Daem 12/05/08   44.   Barak: We strive toward peace? Uh huh.... 09:20  |  Natallie Durson 12/05/08   45.   Speaches...meanwhile Ashkelon is getting bombed... 09:52  |  S 12/05/08   46.   To S: Tomorrow Tel Aviv, Then What? 21:47  |  Dave Levy 12/05/08   47.   CLEAR GAZA AND PUT UP A DISNEYLAND 01:16  |  Bruce 13/05/08   48.   Gaza 20:31  |  P. J. Casey 13/05/08

Read & React Ahmadinejad predicts Israel will be 'swept away' by Palestinians Responses: 79 Woman, 70, killed as Qassam strikes Negev home Responses: 271 Lebanese army says will use force from Tues. to stop fighting Responses: 72 Israel demands Hamas truce bid include prisoner swap Responses: 180 Bush to Haaretz: PM is 'honest guy' and strategic thinker Responses: 86 Rosner's Domain "Double-ness, lying and imposture have a special significance for an American Jew" Not winning the war on terror (WTR) Interview with Bush: the transcript Rosner's Guest: The Jewish story in 6 words Obama: Jewish state is a fundamentally just idea (WTR) More Headlines 20:34 U.S. tycoon Sheldon Adelson quizzed as part of Olmert probe 19:35 Peres at presidents conference: Iran belongs in the past 20:30 Fayyad: Israel shouldn't celebrate independence until peace deal signed 16:35 Hamas: Gilad Shalit won't be part of any truce deal with Israel 17:40 Tony Blair: Israel agrees to ease West Bank restrictions 19:43 Oscar winner Voight to Qassam victims: 'You're on the front line' 19:02 Einstein: Nothing 'chosen' about the Jews, Bible 'childish' legends 17:58 Ahmadinejad predicts Israel will be 'swept away' by Palestinians 17:40 IAF kills Gaza mortar gunner; Qassams hit near Ashkelon 17:46 Saudi FM: Hezbollah 'coup' will affect Iran ties with Arab world 18:14 Knesset, Web sites to negotiate rules regulating talkbacks 17:54 Top Lebanese politician Hariri says won't surrender to Hezbollah Previous Editions Select Day 12 may 11 may 09 may 08 may 07 may 06 may 05 may 04 may 02 may 01 may 30 apr 29 apr

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