One of the most notable sharp exchanges at yesterday\'s Cabinet meeting was between Environment Minister Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) and Prime Minister Sharon. After Hanegbi said that an Israeli attack toppling the PA and deposing Arafat would not be a bad thing, Sharon responded angrily, \"You\'re all big heroes with all your advice. At the end of the day, the responsibility is mine. This region is not going to war.\" Hanegbi spoke to Arutz-7 today, and defended his positions:
\"If it was up to me, the restraint would have ended long ago. I wouldn\'t call it a policy of \'havlagah\' - total holding back - because not a few terrorists have disappeared; instead I would call it \'ipuk,\' restraint. The policy had its advantages at the beginning, but it\'s beginning to lose its effectiveness, as the Palestinians are interpreting it as our weakness... The best defense is a good offense, and we must now begin a major campaign against the PA, so as to exact a large price from them and turn them into the ones who have to defend themselves...\" He said that he agrees that Sharon retains the ultimate responsibility, \"but we as ministers were also chosen to carry out a given policy, and at present I feel that we are not being allowed to prove that we were right in saying that it\'s possible to put an end to the PA\'s campaign of violence against us.\"
Hanegbi said that he does not believe that Prime Minister Sharon has lost some of his spirit or energy, but that he rather has a true dilemma: \"I am confident, however, that the situation itself will solve Sharon\'s problem for him, because I don\'t see the Palestinians laying down their arms for even a minute.\"
\"If it was up to me, the restraint would have ended long ago. I wouldn\'t call it a policy of \'havlagah\' - total holding back - because not a few terrorists have disappeared; instead I would call it \'ipuk,\' restraint. The policy had its advantages at the beginning, but it\'s beginning to lose its effectiveness, as the Palestinians are interpreting it as our weakness... The best defense is a good offense, and we must now begin a major campaign against the PA, so as to exact a large price from them and turn them into the ones who have to defend themselves...\" He said that he agrees that Sharon retains the ultimate responsibility, \"but we as ministers were also chosen to carry out a given policy, and at present I feel that we are not being allowed to prove that we were right in saying that it\'s possible to put an end to the PA\'s campaign of violence against us.\"
Hanegbi said that he does not believe that Prime Minister Sharon has lost some of his spirit or energy, but that he rather has a true dilemma: \"I am confident, however, that the situation itself will solve Sharon\'s problem for him, because I don\'t see the Palestinians laying down their arms for even a minute.\"