Opposition leader and Likud party chairman MK Binyamin Netanyahu says the primary objective of Operation Cast Lead must be to disarm the Hamas terrorist organization and prevent further smuggling of arms and ammunition from Egypt.
Netanyahu said in an interview on Voice of Israel government radio Wednesday morning, "There are two options: the elimination of the Hamas regime -- and we won't be able to escape this in the long run -- and putting an end to the arms."
He added that the issue at present was not only finding the means to carrying out the goals of the military operation in Gaza, but rather, more specifically defining the goals themselves.