Ashdod Mayor: This Can't Go On Much Longer
Ashdod Mayor tells us: This situation is unbelievable. Israel needs to go into Gaza and do what needs to be done.

by Elad Benari & Yoni Kempinski, Arutz Sheva
October 31, 2011

Ashdod Mayor Dr. Yehiel Lasri, whose city has been under a constant threat of rocket attacks, said on Sunday that the situation cannot continue and urged the government to take immediate action.

On Saturday, terrorists fired several Grad missiles at Ashdod. One hit a school which is usually used for Shabbat prayer services but was luckily empty at the time and no one was hurt. A second missile exploded near a residential building and thankfully only damaged the cars that were parked near it.

“This cannot continue for much longer,” Lasri told us. “We cannot manage such a reality for more months and years. The city’s residents are complaining: Why is the State not acting? Why are a quarter of a million citizens at the mercy of a few minor organizations that decide when to disrupt our daily routines?”

While Lasri said that a ceasefire is good for Ashdod “in the short term,” he said that in the long term, more decisive action must be taken.

“We’ve been living like this since Operation Cast Lead, almost three years,” He said. “It’s unreasonable, it’s unacceptable, it hurts Israel’s sovereignty and we must reach a fundamental solution. The fundamental solution is quite obvious, I think. We need to form a good defense umbrella over the entire State of Israel, with additional Iron Dome batteries, with Magic Wand for a range of 70 kilometers, and go into Gaza and do what needs to be done. I don’t think there’s a clearer solution and it needs to be carried out within the next year.”