Israeli Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni talks about Israel and the War in Gaza
Post date: Friday, January 16, 2009
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Livni BIO photo by MFS.gov.il
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Israeli Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni gave on Thursday the best full explanation I’ve heard, as of yet, as to why Israel is at war in GAZA right now. Here is just some of what she had to say Thursday...
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Foreign Minister Livni...
...These are difficult times but Israel, a member state of the United Nations, is doing what a state needs to do in order to defend its citizens.
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This is an effective, successful military operation against terror. Gaza is being controlled by a terrorist organization that does not fight for the aspirations of the Palestinian people, and is not part of the peace process that Israel launched in Annapolis with the pragmatic leadership in the Palestinian Authority.
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That process needs to be continued according to an understanding and international strategy. We are working according to a dual strategy: the need to achieve a peace process with the pragmatic leadership of the legitimate Palestinian government; and, simultaneously, [the need] to fight terrorism and continue the de-legitimization of Hamas, which the international community decided upon three years ago and kept successfully until now. Hamas cannot be legitimized unless it accepts the international requirements, including accepting Israel’s right to exist, full renunciation of violence and terrorism, and of course, the acceptance of former agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
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For eight years now, Israeli civilians have been under threat. We discussed it, not for the first time. I call my colleagues in the international community and also the Secretary-General, telling them that this cannot continue any longer. Israeli citizens cannot live in a situation in which children cannot go to schools or kindergartens and be under this kind of threat.
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Israel showed restraint, but there was and is a moment in which a state has to say enough is enough, and to translate it into a military operation, because there is no other way to address Hamas. When we discussed the fact that Israeli civilians are under threat, we heard the international community condemning terror attacks coming from the Gaza Strip, condemning mortars and the fact that the Hamas targets Israel. But then what?
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Hamas is not a member of the United Nations; Hamas is not thinking about accepting the international community’s rules. Hamas does not share the same values that we all share, as members of the free world and the international community.
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A few months ago, Israel decided to accept a truce that was initiated by the Egyptians, and which was violated on a daily basis by Hamas by targeting Israel and by continuously smuggling weapons that changed the missile range from twenty kilometers to fifty kilometers.
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So today we discussed the humanitarian situation. Israel is acting against terror in the Gaza Strip, and simultaneously trying to help by easing the life of the population and giving medical and humanitarian support for the civilians. We understand and share the concerns of the international community on this matter. Anyway, these are our values as well.
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But, at the end of the day, the question where the region is going relates to understanding the strategic nature of the processes in the region and the interests of the different players in the region, not only Israel’s. Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip is an obstacle not only for Israel but also for the Palestinians to create a state of their own. They are also responsible for the situation in the Gaza Strip, for the loss of Palestinian lives, and for the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
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There is a fight and a battle going on in this region and it is not between Israel and the Palestinians. It is between moderates and extremists. Israel is in the same camp as the Palestinian moderates who have a legitimate government. We are with the other states that express their need to live in peace in the region, who want to see the continuation of the peace process based on two states for two peoples. Those states understand that terror, hatred and incitement are something that this region cannot afford any more. We need to fight it together, and that is what we are doing.
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So, the question of where we are going is not only about the humanitarian situation, which is important and I am not going to downplay it, but also about the need to continue the de-legitimization of Hamas that the international community has been doing for three years now, because there is no way to gain legitimacy just through the Quartet’s requirements. They need to give an answer about the smuggling of weapons to the Gaza Strip. This is not only an Israeli problem, but it affects our possibility to live in peace or give our citizens what any citizen of the world deserves, which is a life free from threats.
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Today we discussed all of these issues. Of course, Israel needs to make its own decisions, according to what I have just shared with you – our need to defend our citizens. What we are doing is expressing our right to self-defense. Israel is going to maintain its right to answer any kind of threat coming from different parts of the region, in a manner that we believe meets our responsibility as a government to defend our citizens.
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This is what we are doing, and I do believe that maybe the end of the military operation can be this region’s opportunity to achieve the changes that all of us so need...
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Read the full transcript HERE
Above taken from a transcript from a Press Conference held Thursday, 01-15-09 with Israeli FM Livni and UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki-Moon - Taken from the official MFA.gov website
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AubreyJ.........
No. 042-09 January 19, 2009
