In a somewhat backhanded way, Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz slams the British government’s announcement to halt arms sales to Israel in case the fighting with Hamas resumes.
“I heard it, but although I have a PhD in philosophy, I didn’t understand it,” he says about UK Business Secretary Vince Cable’s announcement that, “in the event of a resumption of significant hostilities,” London will suspend 12 export licenses for equipment that could be used by the Israeli army in Gaza.
Minister of Intelligence Yuval Steinitz attends a session of the Security and Foreign Affairs Committee in the Knesset, October 16, 2013 (photo credit: Flash90)
“If this is the message, this is exceedingly odd,” Steinitz says at a press conference in Jerusalem. “If Hamas will choose to resume the fighting, Britain will [place] some restrictions on defense cooperation with Israel? I hope this is not the message, because this might be very encouraging for Hamas to resume fire.”
Steinitz says he knows many British people and government officials and that most of them are extremely intelligent. “I don’t want to believe that this is the message. So I prefer to say that I misunderstood it.”
— Raphael Ahren
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