"The problem with our ongoing war is that the government has not yet marked its target." So said Tourism Minister Benny Elon in a talk with Arutz-7 this morning. "This war is not a conventional one," he said, "but rather a long and ongoing one, with ups and downs in the national morale. Yet the PA, which began a war against us in 2000, has still not been marked as our enemy... The victory will come when the PA is destroyed politically, and the terrorists are either deported or killed. This has not yet happened, but I am optimistic that with the ongoing pressure and our unyielding strength, we will reach the point when we do this."
Elon, of the National Union party, said that the media that are trying to "spin" the dispute between Yaalon and Mofaz into a left-wing/right-wing dispute, or a question about whether army figures should criticize the government, are missing the point:
"For one thing, IDF Chief of Staff Yaalon has many credits in his past, and I wouldn't want to judge him based on reports of quotes in the press... I do have some criticism, however. I think that the entire concept of replacing one Abu with another until we find one who will talk with us [a reference to Abu Amar [Arafat], Abu Mazen, and Abu Ala] is mistaken...
"Our government is not defining 'victory' correctly. As of now, we have a definition that says that the terrorists will gain nothing via terrorism. This is very mistaken, as it implies that as soon as they stop shooting and start negotiating, they will obtain all their objectives - as happened after the Yom Kippur War... Instead, what a healthy nation should do is to make it clear that an enemy that begins a war against us is endangering its own land and homes. An enemy who faces a healthy nation like that will think 1,000 times before embarking on a war. Instead, we have an enemy who knows that he has nothing to lose by fighting us, because even if they die, they are promised 70 virgins - and that in the end they are guaranteed their goals, either by breaking us or by negotiating with us. This, then, is my criticism on the Chief of Staff and the Defense Minister and the entire government - those who are responsible for formulating this mistaken and faulty misconception."
Regarding the closure of Arutz-7, Elon said,
"The 'evil ones' have definitely won a battle this time. I have heard from many people that they simply feel humiliated that they can't just turn on the radio in their own country and hear what they want to hear. I personally feel humiliated as a Knesset Member that helped pass a law that was later overturned by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court and the State Prosecution are two fortresses of anti-democracy that think they can be more democratic than democracy itself..." Asked what people can do, Elon said that they could write personal, hand-written letters to one or more MKs explaining their feelings of frustration at not being able to hear Arutz-7.
Elon, of the National Union party, said that the media that are trying to "spin" the dispute between Yaalon and Mofaz into a left-wing/right-wing dispute, or a question about whether army figures should criticize the government, are missing the point:
"For one thing, IDF Chief of Staff Yaalon has many credits in his past, and I wouldn't want to judge him based on reports of quotes in the press... I do have some criticism, however. I think that the entire concept of replacing one Abu with another until we find one who will talk with us [a reference to Abu Amar [Arafat], Abu Mazen, and Abu Ala] is mistaken...
"Our government is not defining 'victory' correctly. As of now, we have a definition that says that the terrorists will gain nothing via terrorism. This is very mistaken, as it implies that as soon as they stop shooting and start negotiating, they will obtain all their objectives - as happened after the Yom Kippur War... Instead, what a healthy nation should do is to make it clear that an enemy that begins a war against us is endangering its own land and homes. An enemy who faces a healthy nation like that will think 1,000 times before embarking on a war. Instead, we have an enemy who knows that he has nothing to lose by fighting us, because even if they die, they are promised 70 virgins - and that in the end they are guaranteed their goals, either by breaking us or by negotiating with us. This, then, is my criticism on the Chief of Staff and the Defense Minister and the entire government - those who are responsible for formulating this mistaken and faulty misconception."
Regarding the closure of Arutz-7, Elon said,
"The 'evil ones' have definitely won a battle this time. I have heard from many people that they simply feel humiliated that they can't just turn on the radio in their own country and hear what they want to hear. I personally feel humiliated as a Knesset Member that helped pass a law that was later overturned by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court and the State Prosecution are two fortresses of anti-democracy that think they can be more democratic than democracy itself..." Asked what people can do, Elon said that they could write personal, hand-written letters to one or more MKs explaining their feelings of frustration at not being able to hear Arutz-7.