Last month's IDF operation in Gaza did not go far enough, Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu said Wednesday. Speaking during the Herzliya Conference, Netanyahu said the government stopped the operation before the military could halt Hamas arms smuggling through tunnels under the border with Egypt. He also called for removing Hamas from power. "I want to praise the chief of staff and express my appreciation for the defense minister for his preparation work, and the IDF soldiers," he said, adding, however, that the government "did not allow the military to plug the hole in the South."
Netanyahu said the Hamas regime in Gaza was an extremist fanatic regime backed by the extremist fanatic government of Iran. "There is no choice but to uproot the Iranian-backed regime in Gaza," he said. He stopped short of saying that he would attack Gaza again to bring that about if he is elected.
Netanyahu also warned that any territory Israel relinquishes will be "grabbed by extremists," referring to the possibility of trading West Bank land for peace in a deal with the Palestinians.
He said negotiations with the Palestinians should concentrate on economic issues and policing. "That is not a replacement for political negotiations" toward a peace treaty, he said. "It is the only path toward them."