News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Public Security Minister Avi Dichter (Kadima), speaking during a tour of Sderot, rejected calls for a large-scale invasion aimed at taking over Gaza. "Whoever talks about entering and occupying the Gaza Strip, these are populist ideas which I don't connect to, and in my opinion, no intelligent person does, either," he commented.

The Kadima minister, who has warned for two years that Hamas and other terrorists are stockpiling a huge arsenal of advanced weapons and explosives, said the government must reconsider its policy. He did not offer any specific solutions to the problem of the rocket attacks. "I recognize everything the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet are doing, but right now they are operating according to an existing policy," the minister said.

Immigration Minister Jacob Edery (Kadima), who accompanied Dichter on the tour, disagreed on entering Gaza and said that "we are not far from the day in which we will have to go in and reoccupy all of Gaza."