Eyal Ben Reuven
Eyal Ben ReuvenHezki Baruch

MK Eyal Ben Reuven (Zionist Union) spoke to Arutz Sheva about the terrorists who planned to kidnap an IDF soldier or Israeli civilian in Samaria.

Members of the terror cell, arrested earlier this week, worked closely with Hamas and planned their attack for the Hanukkah holiday.

Ben Reuven serves as a member of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

"I congratulate the Shabak (Israel Security Agency) and the IDF for uncovering this plot, which in a split second could have become a top security issue, if Hamas had succeeded in their mission," he said. "They saved us from possibly having a very sad holiday."

How important is it to Hamas to kidnap IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens?

"It's a very important strategic ploy," Ben Reuven said. "Both the media and public allow Hamas to use this tactic in their attempt to free murderers from Israeli prisons. This is of prime importance to them, and the IDF and Shabak see preventing Hamas and other terror organizations from achieving this kind of success as of prime importance."

They plan a kidnapping, we destroy their tunnels, and they fire rockets at us. Are we about to go to war?

"Worry about what's happening in Gaza is something we live with all the time, because of the volatility. Gaza is continually working to harm the IDF and the State of Israel."

Maybe we're not responding strongly enough?

"We, too, are not interested in Ashkelon and the Gaza Belt communities, and maybe Tel Aviv as well, spending the next few months in bomb shelters. Our job is to prevent such a situation. We heard the GOC (General Officer Commanding) Southern Command say that 'we will respond, and we will not allow rockets to be fired at Israel, but we are not interested in an escalation.' We're not interested in war."N

Nevertheless, Ben Reuven warned Gaza terrorists, "If you hit us in a way that hurts and that requires a response, you well know the power of the IDF."

"The last thing they want is to have the IDF on their heads. IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), and the commanders are using their judgement, and they are currently responding on a case-by-case basis, in an effort to relay the message and prevent the next war.

"The IDF's job is to win wars in order to prevent the next war. Meaning, what the IDF does to prevent a war is no less important than the force it uses in order to win wars," he concluded.