MK Yoav Galant (Likud), a former Southern Command commander, on Tuesday morning responded to Tuesday night's rocket fire from Gaza.
In an interview with 103 FM Radio, Galant said, "The basis is power and deterrence. We have three interests, and we need to remember that: We want quiet, we want removal of responsibility, and we want to prevent an increase of power. The problem is that there is an inherent contradiction: When there is quiet, naturally there is strengthening, even if we want to close our eyes."
He explained, "The current quiet is achieved due to a few things: Firstly, there is very strong deterrence following Operation Guardian of the Walls, because Gaza fell apart, even if not everything was perfect. Secondly, the Egyptians with Qatari money are rehabilitating Gaza. There is a strong Hamas interest here. They are passing money directly not in suitcases but a lot more money is passing to Gaza in a direct fashion, via bank transfers."
In addition to the money from Qatar, Galant noted that "thousands of employees leave to work" within Israel, "something which reduces the tension in the area." And, "Hamas is pulling the strings and instead of activating direct terror it activates terror via Judea and Samaria, internal terror."
Regarding the tensions surrounding the Temple Mount, Galant said, "On the Temple Mount, we cannot accept a situation which is dictated by other bodies. Jordan is Israel's good treaty partner, especially from a security perspective."
"We need to remember who Abdullah II is," he added. "Because they smell they they are dealing with a weak party. ... Israel needs to build itself up from a place of strength."