Head of far-right slate: Any Gaza ceasefire must include return of IDF soldiers

5 May 2019, 6:16 pm

Edit

Union of Right-Wing Parties chair Rafi Peretz says that any ceasefire agreement with Hamas must include the return of the bodies of Israeli soldiers Hadar Goldin and Shaul Oren.

Peretz tells Army Radio that he would agree to a ceasefire agreement to end hostilities between Israel and the Gaza-based terrorist group following two days of rocket barrage toward the south of Israel, “only under very specific conditions that would have to include the return of our boys.” Goldin and Oren were killed during the 2014 Gaza War.

Rafi Peretz, head of the Union of Right Wing Parties, at a political event in Petah Tikva, Feb 20, 2019. (Yehuda Haim/Flash90)

Peretz says that such a ceasefire agreement “would have to be wider than just this round of fighting and make sure that Israeli interests are met,” while coming after “it was made very clear that Israel will not accept any attacks on our citizens.”

Peretz, a former Air Force pilot and chief rabbi of the army says he does not believe the army needed to launch a ground operation into Gaza to stop the rocket fire and could instead “finish the job via the air and return the deterrence to what it should be.”

— Raoul Wootliff