ISRAELI OFFICIALS USE WAR ON GAZA IN THEIR ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNING

Gaza, 27 Rabiul Akhir 1436/17 February 2015 (MINA) – The head of left-of-centre Israeli party Zionist Union, Isaac Herzog, has attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he failed to achieve the goals of the latest 51-day Israeli war on Gaza.

“When pressure on Netanyahu increases, the level of his electoral campaign increases,” Herzog said.

His remarks came during a press conference attended by hundreds of Israeli settlers from the Gaza periphery, and hinted at Netanyahu’s recent statement that a left-wing victory would lead to the arrival of ISIS in Israel, Press Tv quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting. Tuesday

“It is clear today that Protective Edge was a failure,” Herzog said. “His [Netanyahu’s] campaign started two months ago and we have not heard any serious words regarding his security, economic and political programmes, or even a housing plan.”

He concluded his speech saying: “Bibi failed in everything… [He] failed in housing, failed in economy, and before all, failed in security. Enough Bibi, you failed. Go home.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon has attacked the head of the Jewish Home electoral list Naftali Bennett, who criticised Netanyahu’s performance during the war on Gaza over the summer.

Ya’alon, who has demanded to maintain the same portfolio in the next government, called Bennett a “liar”.

He said that former army officers and former cabinet’s officials should try their best to win the Knesset elections without casting lies and misleading people.

Bennett was reported as saying that the latest Israeli war on Gaza could have ended in five days.

He also said that he was the one who put forward the plan to destroy the Gaza tunnels, and that the cabinet ministers did not know about the tunnels before he proposed the issue to the government.

If Hamas had accepted the Egyptian ceasefire proposal in the early days of the war, Bennett said, Israel would not have been able to destroy the tunnels it did. (T/P002/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)