Israeli Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said Wednesday that Israel should only step up its military campaign in the Palestinian lands, and that the Jewish state now faced a "golden opportunity" to strike at the foundations of "the terror of Arafat," according to Haaretz newspaper.
Tha harline minister’s remarks came after US Middle East Anthony Zinni proposed that Israel and the Palestinians commit themselves to a 48-hour period of calm, during which the Palestinians would continue arrests and action against terror groups and Israel would halt all assassinations of militants and attacks on Palestinian Authority headquarters.
According to the paper, Landau countered that Israel must not miss a chance to strike telling blows, of ever-increasing magnitude, “against terrorists and the elements of Arafat's Authority that he said provided them shelter and support.”
Referring to the security talks, Landau told Army Radio: "They can talk about security all they want, in order to acquaint themselves with the situation.
“However, it must be absolutely forbidden, that these talks bring us to a point where we do not take more action, with greater forcefulness, against the targets that create the infrastucture of terror."
"Now we are standing before a golden opportunity - a window of opportunity that must not be missed - to strike at their infrastructure of terrorism, to its very foundations," Landau said.
Landau escaped death or injury on December 5 when a member of Islamic Jihad blew himself to pieces in front of a hotel where he was staying. Some bystanders were slightly injured – Albawaba.com
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