Likud MK Moshe Saada says in an interview with Israel National News - Arutz Sheva that the return to fighting should not be threatened with further pauses for the purpose of engaging in deals with Hamas.
"Just as the Prime Minister pledged, the State of Israel is returning to fighting for the purpose of destroying Hamas, occupying Gaza and the Philadelphi Route and, of course, saying no to Palestinian Authority's rule in Gaza. We need full military control by the IDF in Gaza. At the civilian level, there are several proposals – but the Palestinian Authority must be completely out of this game," Saada declares.
He believes that the discussion surrounding a deal of all the hostages in exchange for all the terrorists imprisoned in Israel is dangerous for the country. "Everyone for everyone means freeing people who have massacred, raped women, decapitated babies. This is a red line, a huge incentive for terrorism, and granting immunity to future terrorists. In the past, a soldier was exchanged for a terrorist. In the Jibril deal, we talked about 700 terrorists for a soldier. In the Shalit deal, we exceeded the threshold of 1,027 terrorists for a soldier. The State of Israel, which fought and was the spearhead in the world of fighting terrorism – has surrendered to it."
"Beyond the moral and ethical procedure, we paid a huge price for the Shalit deal. We paid for Yahya Sinwar, and we are still paying. There are over 1,200 murdered and kidnapped in Gaza because of him. The state must act from the head and not from the heart. If we give in to protectionism in this case – the price will be much higher the next time. A nation that wants to live and wants to continue to exist in these surroundings must set red lines," he emphasizes.
According to Saada, "all limits have been breached. In the past, the prisoner exchange was for soldiers, and today we are talking about babies. Allowing agreements will legitimize the kidnapping of babies. So now a paratrooper battalion will have to guard a nursery school in Psagot because Israel is prepared to release terrorists? And we are told that these are not terrorists with blood on their hands. After all, these are terrorists, teenagers, who tried to murder and seriously injure Israeli citizens."
Saada supports the approval of the state budget and also makes it clear that security is required not only in the areas surrounding Gaza but also in Judea and Samaria. "The budget will pass. I think that we, as a country, must invest all the money and resources in security and in the reconstruction of the surrounding area – physical rehabilitation of the houses – and emotional rehabilitation for the residents."
"Security is not only in the Gaza region, but also in the north and in Judea and Samaria, which is the state's security outpost, and thanks to the residents there, what happened in the Gaza region did not happen in other places," he concluded.