Monday, 5 January 2009
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel's foreign minister addressed the government's cabinet in Jerusalem on Sunday about the ongoing assault on Gaza, presenting her plan to counter negative media coverage around the world.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke about diplomatic operations, saying, "the intensive diplomatic activity of the last few days aims to alleviate the pressure for a ceasefire and to allow time for continuing the military operation in order to achieve its goals."
"The progress of the ground operation led to an attempt by the Arab states to promote a diplomatic initiative in the Security Council to stop the operation. That attempt was foiled by us."
"Our ability as decision-makers to provide diplomatic maneuverability is directly connected to the internal processes occurring in the Arab states. The pictures constantly coming out of Gaza are difficult for us to counter," she noted.
"Therefore, we are currently concentrating on intensifying our humanitarian activities; for this purpose, we are today opening a special headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories," she explained.
Representatives of humanitarian organizations operating in the Gaza Strip, as well as members of the international media will be brought into the new Foreign Ministry's headquarters, Livni told the cabinet.
The foreign minister also insisted that Israel should not be equated with Palestinian movements seeking self-determination in the occupied Gaza Strip, noting that "In all of my discussions with world leaders, I reiterate my opposition to any narrative that equates us with Hamas. Hamas spreads terror, whereas we act out of self-defense."
"We also strictly maintain the international isolation in which we placed Hamas since it took over the Gaza Strip. This is a war against a terrorist organization, not a war between states that mandates an agreement between them," she claimed, without elaborating on the previous six-month negotiated ceasefire with Hamas.
But Livni told the government that she is not concerned that world pressure might stop the Israeli assault: "In Lebanon, the operation was halted by a diplomatic agreement; today, we are in a different place."
"The goals of this operation are military. We went in to strike at terrorism and to impair Hamas's capability and motivation. My position on the need to bring about, in the long run, the collapse of the Hamas regime is well known. Any arrangement must promote Israel's interests vis-à-vis Hamas," Livni said.
However, the foreign minister rejected the possibility of an immediate ceasefire agreement or calm between the Jewish state and the Islamic movement, saying, "A diplomatic arrangement with Hamas contradicts the strategic goal and the diplomatic efforts that are concentrated on weakening Hamas."
"Every international effort that weakens Hamas is positive in our eyes," she noted.
"This is a counter-terrorist operation and the diplomatic activity in this context is focused on enabling the operation to continue and finding ways to prevent the future arming of Hamas," Livni said, a reference to Israel's recent targeting of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, which is home to dozens of tunnels into Egypt.
"The smuggling must be halted. This is the critical part of the diplomacy in my opinion. Furthermore, this is a war on terrorists and on their motivation to shoot at citizens of the State of Israel," she added.
