Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak convened on Thursday night to discuss the situation in Gaza, primarily the Egyptian ceasefire initiative. Also in attendance were IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and ISA (Israel Security Agency � Shin Bet) Director Yuval Diskin. Defense Ministry representative Amos Gilad is heading back to Cairo to clarify a number of issues regarding the ceasefire.
After convening for about five hours, no definitive statement was released, but officials did confirm there is an ongoing dialogue towards a cessation in the fighting, a dialogue that they explain will take place with the Egyptians, not Hamas.
Olmert continues to release firm statements, explaining he will not permit a situation that allows Hamas to rearm, and towards achieving this goal, Israel will not be pressured into a ceasefire by the international community. At present, Israel appears unwilling to trust Egypt to halt weapons smuggling, since Cairo failed to make good on its promise in the past. Of the three senior government ministers, Olmert continues to assume the ?bad guy� role, insisting he will not accept any agreement under pressure and Israel will not permit a situation that allows Hamas to rearm.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is on her way to Washington, where she will present the outline regarding a ceasefire. The foreign minister stated that even if the ceasefire is accepted, Israel will respond immediately and harshly to any rocket fire into Israel. Israel is seeking American assurances regarding weapons smuggling into Gaza, unwilling to pull troops out until Jerusalem has guarantees that Hamas in Gaza will not be permitted to rearm.
There is also a growing movement in Israel calling on the government not to agree to any ceasefire that does not include IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. To date however, unfortunately, it does not appear that the government leaders are willing to make the Shalit issue a key element of a ceasefire agreement.
(Yechiel Spira - YWN Israel)
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=28891
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