Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, father of the Oslo Accords that many Israelis blame for most of the 552 victims of the past 21 months, said, \"This is a terrible calamity, a tragic day for Jerusalem and a tragic day for Israel.\"
The Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) Council demands that Prime Minister Sharon order the IDF today to take control over all Palestinian Authority areas, \"as recommended by the IDF Chief of Staff and head of the Mossad.\"
MK Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) calls on his fellow party members to quit the government coalition if Arafat is not deported: \"Arafat must be deported today. It cannot be that, after all that has happened, the blood of our children continues to be freely spilt. There must be a clear and unambiguous reaction before the day is out: Arafat must be out of Judea and Samaria.\" Later in the afternoon, Interior Minister Eli Yeshai (Shas) said that such a move must be seriously considered.
MK Benny Elon of the National Union said this morning,
\"We are no longer in the coalition, but until now we have been a \'friendly\' opposition. But now we may turn into a \'hostile\' opposition trying to bring down the government. A turning point has been reached. There has been talk of a partition along the Green Line, there has been a persecution of settlers and of the outposts by the left and by the media, and there appears to be a Palestinian state on the way - if after all this, we still don\'t make a switch, and take the offensive in a major way to simply clean out the area of all the terrorists and deport them, and empty out all the refugee camps, and change our entire manner of speech [in reference to this situation - then we will work to topple the government.]\" Others in the National Union called on Likud MKs to join them.
Agriculture Minister Shalom Simchon (Labor): \"Construction of the fence must be rushed up.\"
Health Minister Nissim Dahan, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and Public Security Minister Uzi Landau also visited the site of the attack today. Dahan said that in the end, Israel will defeat all those who wish to overcome her. Olmert praised the police, and announced that City Hall flags would be lowered to half-mast today. \"To come and see my children, my city\'s children, lying in front of me dead when they were on their way to school - nothing can prepare one for such a sight,\" Olmert said.
MK Tommy Lapid (Shinui) recommends that the government not respond for the next 24 hours, in order to allow the world media to concentrate on the pictures coming from Jerusalem and not on Israel\'s retaliation: \"There must be a reaction, but it need not be immediately.\" Minister Effie Eitam of the National Religious Party expressed \"100% agreement with Lapid.\" Eitam added, \"The reaction cannot be local, but must rather be an entire campaign that must not end even a minute before we have defeated the enemy. We must understand that it\'s either us, or them.\"
The Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) Council demands that Prime Minister Sharon order the IDF today to take control over all Palestinian Authority areas, \"as recommended by the IDF Chief of Staff and head of the Mossad.\"
MK Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) calls on his fellow party members to quit the government coalition if Arafat is not deported: \"Arafat must be deported today. It cannot be that, after all that has happened, the blood of our children continues to be freely spilt. There must be a clear and unambiguous reaction before the day is out: Arafat must be out of Judea and Samaria.\" Later in the afternoon, Interior Minister Eli Yeshai (Shas) said that such a move must be seriously considered.
MK Benny Elon of the National Union said this morning,
\"We are no longer in the coalition, but until now we have been a \'friendly\' opposition. But now we may turn into a \'hostile\' opposition trying to bring down the government. A turning point has been reached. There has been talk of a partition along the Green Line, there has been a persecution of settlers and of the outposts by the left and by the media, and there appears to be a Palestinian state on the way - if after all this, we still don\'t make a switch, and take the offensive in a major way to simply clean out the area of all the terrorists and deport them, and empty out all the refugee camps, and change our entire manner of speech [in reference to this situation - then we will work to topple the government.]\" Others in the National Union called on Likud MKs to join them.
Agriculture Minister Shalom Simchon (Labor): \"Construction of the fence must be rushed up.\"
Health Minister Nissim Dahan, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and Public Security Minister Uzi Landau also visited the site of the attack today. Dahan said that in the end, Israel will defeat all those who wish to overcome her. Olmert praised the police, and announced that City Hall flags would be lowered to half-mast today. \"To come and see my children, my city\'s children, lying in front of me dead when they were on their way to school - nothing can prepare one for such a sight,\" Olmert said.
MK Tommy Lapid (Shinui) recommends that the government not respond for the next 24 hours, in order to allow the world media to concentrate on the pictures coming from Jerusalem and not on Israel\'s retaliation: \"There must be a reaction, but it need not be immediately.\" Minister Effie Eitam of the National Religious Party expressed \"100% agreement with Lapid.\" Eitam added, \"The reaction cannot be local, but must rather be an entire campaign that must not end even a minute before we have defeated the enemy. We must understand that it\'s either us, or them.\"