Water
and Energy Minister Uzi Landau said that Israel should respect the wishes of
terrorists who preferred to starve themselves
Water and
Energy Minister Uzi Landau – who has a rich defense background, having served
in the past as Public Security Minister – said that Israel should respect the
wishes of terrorists who preferred to starve themselves, and not try to figure
out ways to convince them to eat. “This hunger strike and the riots in their
wake is just another provocation by the Palestinian Authority,” he said. “We
must not panic.”
Speaking to
Arutz Sheva Monday, Landau said that the PA was going out of its way to cause
riots, as a “greeting,” and a message, to U.S. President Barack H. Obama, due
here for a visit in several weeks. “The riots in 'protest' over the prisoner
who died in Megiddo Prison are just a pretext,” he said. “They would have
found another reason to riot had he not died.” Landau said that the PA has
never honored the agreements it signed with Israel, and has constantly
promoted terror by honoring terrorists, naming streets and squares after them,
providing them with pensions, etc.
Landau said
that Israel must meet the current challenge “without blinking. We must tell
our friends in the U.S. and Europe that despite all our efforts, the PA still
refuses to meet us for talks, and that pressure on us just encourages them to
continue in their refusal.” In any event, he said, Israel must continue to
respond with force when Arab rioters use force. “If we back down they will
never stop their rioting,” he said.
Regarding
the hunger strikers, Landau said that if they felt like not eating, Israel
should leave them be. “Let them refuse to eat in good health,” he said. “We
cannot release terrorists because they are on a hunger strike. We cannot make
a mockery of ourselves.”
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