Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with his generals to discuss the offensive in Gaza in 2014. (Israeli Government Photo)
Joe Lauria Consortium News
After two Israeli soldiers were killed in Hebron four days before the election, Netanyahu threatened a new war, as CN predicted yesterday, reports Joe Lauria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened a major military offensive against the West Bank four days before he stands for re-election after two Israeli soldiers were killed today in Hebron.
Consortium News yesterday predicted that Palestinians killing an Israeli on the West Bank could trigger an all-out war against the Palestinian Authority.
It is still unclear what led to the Israeli soldiers being killed after a clash with what early reports call Palestinian “gunmen.” The men, identified by the Israelis as Firas and Hamouda al-Jaaba, did not appear to be members of the PA security forces.
Netanyahu rushed to Hebron, where in military gear, he announced that the entire city would be shut down as the IDF carried out house-to-house operations. He vowed a major military operation in the West Bank, “of a scale not seen since the Six-Day War,” when Israel began its occupation of the territory in 1967.
“The IDF is ready to carry it out. We will determine the timing, but it is coming,” he said.
Before it was known that the Israeli soldiers had been killed, he issued this statement:
“It appears that Hamas terrorists were planning a major attack aimed at murdering innocent civilians, as evidenced by the large quantities of weapons and ammunition discovered. … I have instructed the IDF and security forces to immediately cordon off the city of Hebron and take additional security measures to prevent terrorist attacks originating from Judea and Samaria.”
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s extreme right finance minister, also in Hebron, called for a major war against the occupied West Bank similar to Gaza.
“There is no alternative to a comprehensive military operation in Judea and Samaria that will lead to the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, the confiscation of weapons and the elimination of terrorists. Just as in Gaza and Lebanon,” said Smotrich, who added he would push for the operation to be approved and implemented.
Consortium News reported yesterday:
“Israel is threatening ‘total war’ against the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
With just days to go before the Israeli general election on Oct. 27, Israel’s prime minister and defense minister have threatened a full-scale attack if an Israel settler or soldier is killed by a member of the Palestinian security forces.”
The article said that both Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Palestinians killing an Israeli soldier or settler on the West bank would trigger a major offensive.
Katz said that the IDF was waiting for PA security personnel and associated groups to “turn their guns” against Israeli settlers and IDF troops in the West Bank.
He said:
“In such a case, war will be declared against the Palestinian Authority, and the IDF will launch a comprehensive offensive in accordance with an organized plan that was formulated and approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by me, according to the principles outlined for the IDF.”
Katz added:
“The campaign will be short and powerful, and will include the use of ground and air forces, and the use of special means, the targeting and expulsion of senior officials, the destruction of weapons and military equipment, and the extensive evacuation of residents and destruction of terrorist infrastructure inside the cities and in all refugee camps in Judea and Samaria[West Bank] , in accordance with the Gaza and Lebanon model, alongside reinforcing forces and defending the Israeli communities.”
During a visit to a West Bank security barrier on Oct.13, Netanyahu also warned of all out war against Ramallah. “Our enemies are thinking of testing us in these days leading up to the elections. I warn them that we are prepared for every scenario, including what is known as ‘turning the guns around,’” he said.
Netanyahu said the IDF had given him and Katz “a powerful, robust plan. … In such a scenario, I wouldn’t advise our enemies to test us. You will encounter a level of force here that you never imagined.”
CN speculated that Israel could provoke such a killing just days before the election in order to give Netanyahu the casus belli.
Polls indicate his party will not win a majority to form a new government, it could come in second place and that he might not be asked to form a new government.
Netanyahu face possible jail time on corruption charges if he is no longer the prime minister.
This is a developing story. Please come back for updates.
Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette, the London Daily Mail and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times. He is the author of two books, A Political Odyssey, with Sen. Mike Gravel, foreword by Daniel Ellsberg; and How I Lost By Hillary Clinton, foreword by Julian Assange.
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