Right wing lawmakers hurrah strikes on Islamic Jihad

Right-wing politicians are giddy after the army’s punishing attacks on Islamic Jihad overnight.

Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen, who had pressed publicly for a harsh IDF reprisal to rocket fire last week, says he will close his “Sderot bureau” opened to draw attention to the rocket-battered city.

“You have our full [backing] to act against and battle terror until quiet is returned, he says.

Despite also being out of the loop, according to reports. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionism party, thanks Israelis “for trusting us even when everything cannot be said in real time.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant decided on Operation Shield and Arrow during discussions with security brass on Friday, without involving other members of the cabinet, according to Hebrew-language media reports.

“Israel’s citizens are in good hands and anyone who harms us should know they will not be forgiven,” Smotrich tweets. “At the right time and timing.”

Shas minister Amichai Eliyahu tells Army Radio that the operation is the result of an intense push from within the governing coalition to take more strident action against Gazan terror.

“The military operation today proves how much political pressure works,” he says.