ASHKENAZI HINTS THAT IDF NEEDS TO CONTROL GAZA

The army chief of staff offers an interesting hint to what Israel needs to do:

(IsraelNN.com) Just hours after the latest barrage of Kassam rockets towards Sderot and environs - three hit the city, 17 hit open areas - IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi says, "It's impossible to defeat a terrorist organization without, in the end, taking control of the area... It could be that we will reach a point at which we will have to carry out the big operation in Gaza."

Later Wednesday afternoon, yet another Kassam was fired from Gaza, slamming into an open area near Netivot, south of Sderot and close to ten kilometers from Gaza.

Speaking at the University of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Asheknazi said, "The situation in Gaza cannot continue this way over time. All the military operations we carry out almost daily do have a cumulative effect, but we have not succeeded in knocking the Kassam capabilities to zero."

Shortly before Ashkenazi's speech, the security mini-cabinet decided yet again not to authorize a large-scale military operation against the growing terrorist infrastructures in Gaza. MK Shai Hermesh, a resident of the western Negev and a member of Prime Minister Olmert's Kadima party, complained, "The plans are all ready, but Olmert is holding them up; he does not want to authorize the plans."

The IDF carried out a minor operation in Gaza on Tuesday, killing six terrorists; similar offensives are expected to continue.

He also points out that the reason why they have good results in Judea/Samaria is because the IDF controls those areas. As for Hermesh: if he finds Olmert's actions objectionable, shouldn't he be quitting his membership in the government? Why is he remaining there?