Gaza war ‘about good guys, bad guys’ — Livni

The current war in Gaza is not about Israelis versus Palestinians, or about the world supporting the Palestinians against Israel, but about the “good guys in this region against the bad guys,” Justice Minister Tzipi Livni says. “It’s as simple as that.”

In one corner, there is the “camp of pragmatics, so-called moderates” — Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Jordan and some Gulf states. These states pursue goals supported by the international community. In the other corner, Livni says, there are the extremist Islamists in Hamas, Hezbollah and the new radical Sunni groups in Iraq in Syria.

The moderates should “work together” to defeat the radicals, Livni tells reporters during a press conference. “Nobody can afford a message to these extremists that are killing civilians all over this region — a message of weakness is not acceptable. Nobody can afford to send the message that those that are [perpetrating] terror against civilians are going to get what the want.”

Reiterating her plan for “the day after” the military operation, Livni calls for the demilitarization of Gaza alongside the supervised reconstruction Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. The PA should again man the crossings from Gaza into Israel and Egypt, she adds.

The disarmament of Gaza of “all illicit arms” can start by “preventing rearmament,” she explains. “The good news” is that Egypt has recently stopped all weapons smuggling between Sinai and the Strip,” Livni says. “This is one way to stop smuggling to Gaza. The other is by supervising and having a mechanism that prevents any rearmament of Hamas and also takes the support that the international community would give to the population of Gaza without strengthening Hamas.”

Livni, Israel’s chief peace negotiator with the PA, also calls for the renewal of talks with the PA, as peace remains a vital “Israeli interest,” she says.

— Raphael Ahren