MK Maj. Gen. Yair Golan (Democratic Union) attended a conference on the strengthening of Israel's southern communities which was held in the Knesset Tuesday.
"I hear Alon Davidi (Mayor of Sderot), who spoke from the heart and made demands that are correct. spoke from his heart and the demands are right. I know the residents of the envelope well since I was the Home Front Command's champion and I salute them with both hands," Golan stated.
"You say, 'Don't give us 'painkillers,' give us a real solution.' A real solution is non-political, it's professional and believe me in my old profession I understand it quite well. Maybe I'm not a great politician but I am a fine military man and I say in the simplest way: to overcome the threat we must defeat Hamas' military force and this cannot be done from the air. We have to go into the territory's depths and fight Hamas where it lives.
However, Golan warned that a ground operation would incur a steep price. "It is not easy and it is not a decision that either a right-wing or a left-wing government would make lightly."
"If you decide not to go for a military solution then you need a policy and the policy is to have a settlement with Hamas. There must be a strategic decision. It is impossible not to talk to Hamas nor to go to a military decision/ It is a recipe for repeated flare-ups. I hope you no longer believe that the IDF's response is doing anything, it is not moving anyone in Hamas or Islamic Jihad. For years we have responded, and nothing has changed.
MK Golan emphasized: "The State of Israel faces a decision. If we do not want a military operation in the Gaza Strip, then there is no choice but to go to the series. This is a nasty and nasty enemy that we would like to disappear from the map."