Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday evening that "we are a little disappointed by the continuation of Kassam rocket fire at the South by the Palestinians." "A little disappointed"?
Speaking at a meeting with European Union envoys at the Finnish Embassy, Olmert added, "I hope very much that the Palestinians will honor their obligations and stop the fire."
Figger the odds.
Mere hours after Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz sought to deflect responsibility for the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip Tuesday, terrorists violated the day-old cease-fire by firing two Kassam rockets at Sderot. Both rockets hit an open area without causing casualties. "The IDF played only a partial role in the decision to reach a cease-fire agreement with the Palestinians," Halutz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday morning. He said terrorists would attempt to exploit the truce and use it to rearm.
He's not quite brain dead, apparently.
In recent months, senior security establishment officials have argued against a cease-fire, saying it would only serve the Palestinian side. MKs on the panel said the army chief's statement could be interpreted as criticism of the political echelon. Halutz said the army would continue to operate in the West Bank despite the fact that Palestinians were "trying to equate" IDF operations there with those in the Gaza Strip. "It is important that the IDF maintains its freedom of maneuver in the West Bank," he said.