In an interview Wednesday morning, former mayor of Kiryat Shmona Prosper Azran, spoke to Benny Teitelbaum at Kan Moreshet on the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri and life in Kiryat Shmona after October 7th.
He opened the interview by saying that he didn't evacuate from the city because, “I live here, it's the center of my life." About those who stayed in the city, Azran said: "There are about 1,000 left out of 22,600."
"We, who have endured all these years without protection [of the Iron Dome] and suffered Katyushas day and night, suddenly they want to re-educate us."
He also said: "I believe that the decision [to evacuate] is wrong. The number of fallings in this area does not justify the evacuation of residents. That's what bomb shelters are for."
"If we evacuate the city, we must only evacuate those for whom it is difficult to move around, such as old people, who are slow getting to the shelters, the disabled, etc. – they can be evacuated. We have done it dozens of times."
Later in the interview, Azran attacked: "The situation is a result of criminal neglect for years. We have let Hezbollah get close to our fences, climb on the fences, set up tents. All this has been done right in front of our eyes."
“If you don't understand, we are in a terrible trap, not only in the north. It's from the north, south, east and inside the country. The Iranians are the ones who have been playing around with us. What we must do now is to get out of the trap with a major attack with all our forces. Mobilize the entire country. Give weapons to all those who need them.
"We are so trapped that we behave like mice. We are constantly running away, enough of this. We have a large army. We can go and teach them a lesson.”
Regarding the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s deputy, he said: "There is no reason to be on high alert. What we did until what happened in the south [October 7th] did not eliminate these dangers. Today they can shoot, they can shoot wherever they want, they don't have to shoot only at Kiryat Shmona. The level of alert has not increased more than what was before yesterday, even if we have eliminated such an important person.”