Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday following a meeting with Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he was concerned over Olmert's position on Hamas.
Netanyahu said that "Olmert does not see that Israel is under a strategic threat from Hamas," which took the reins of power over the Palestinian Authority following its landslide victory in the legislative elections last month.
Olmert met Netanyahu, who is also the opposition leader, for their monthly update meeting, just a day after their vociferous face-to-face confrontation in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Following their meeting, Netanyahu said that he was "concerned" in view of the fact that "while the heads of the defense establishments and army generals warn of the great danger Hamas, united with Iran, poses on us and our neighbors, Olmert does not see this."
"Today we can definitely contain this threat, but this requires a responsible and experienced leadership which sees reality in a practical way," he said.
"We need practical solutions. Currently, the government does not have such leadership."
In Tuesday's meeting, Olmert said he did not adhere to the Shin Bet security services chief's opinion that Hamas posed an existential threat to Israel.
