PM, Livni trade barbs on defense, foreign policy

A dispute erupted yesterday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Tzipi Livni at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting. The leaders of Likud and Kadima, respectively, exchanged barbs on a range of defense and diplomacy-related issues.

Specifically, Netanyahu blasted Livni for her views on weapons smuggling into the Palestinian Authority. "I understand that for you it's enough to have a piece of paper vowing no missiles will enter PA territory. I was elected to make sure that things happen," he said.

"If we're talking about what the public chose," Livni replied, "then political decency would require that after the election you act according to what you promised before it."

Livni accused the prime minister of being "blind" if he "doesn't see that Israel's standing in the world is deteriorating thanks to your policies."

The prime minister also referred to negotiations over captive soldier Gilad Shalit, rejecting reports that the German negotiator appointed to the talks had ceased efforts for a prisoner swap. He said Israel has been waiting for three months for a Hamas response to the last proposal offered.

Netanyahu said his administration had told the German mediator that Israel is willing to release prisoners "to bring Gilad home safe and sound," but only in such a way that would avoid the consequences seen after past prisoner exchanges, in which "released prisoners went back to murdering Israelis."

"We won't agree to dangerous prisoners being released to places from which they could easily reach Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ra'anana," the prime minister said. "They will be released in order to bring back Gilad, but not sent to places where it will be easy to go out and kill. These are our terms. Three months have now passed and we haven't received an answer from Hamas."