SMOLMERT LOSING HIS MIND REALLY

[mord]

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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday referred to the US decision to abstain from Thursday's UN Security Council resolution vote calling for a Gaza cease-fire, saying US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "was left quite embarrassed, not voting for a resolution that she herself had prepared and organized."

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Speaking in Ashkelon, Olmert took pride in demonstrating his close relations with US President George W. Bush and his great support for Israel when he recounted how he urged the US president to intervene.

"Early Friday morning [Israel time], [we knew that] the secretary of state was considering bringing the cease-fire resolution to a UNSC vote and we didn't want her to vote for it. Suddenly, within ten minutes it became clear that, the vote was going ahead.

"I [called the White House and] said, 'Get President Bush on the phone.' They tried, and told me he was in the middle of a lecture in Philadelphia. I said, 'I'm not interested, I need to speak to him now.' He got down from the podium, went out and took the phone call. I told him that the US cannot possibly vote in favor of this resolution. He immediately called the secretary of state and told her not to vote for it. She was left quite embarrassed."
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Olmert went on to say that Israel would end the Gaza operation if rocket fire on Israel stops and Hamas is unable to rearm.

"Anything else will be met with the Israeli people's iron fist," Olmert said. "We will continue as long as necessary to remove this threat from our heads."
Olmert in Ashkelon on Monday.

Olmert in Ashkelon on Monday.
Photo: Yossi Et Uzi Inc.

Earlier Monday, Speaking during a visit to the Mikve Yisrael School in Holon, Olmert criticized international media for its coverage the Israeli offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"Anyone looking at foreign media will likely think that the [IDF operation] broke out for no reason," he said, adding that not enough emphasis was being placed on the threat of rocket-fire residents of the South have lived with for the last eight years.

Olmert exclaimed, "It's like it never happened… Now, only the 'brutality' of Israel is being mentioned."

The prime minister reiterated Israel's right to protect its citizens, saying that the international community had "no right to reproach us and to try and tell us how to defend our citizens."

"We know the truth - we didn't declare war on the residents of Gaza, they aren't our enemy, we don't want to hurt them. Every citizen, child or adult, who isn't involved in terror and was hurt as a result of the war effort, is a sacrifice that we are sorry about and wish to prevent," he said.

"We're battling murderers in Gaza, who murder Israelis, and don't mind exposing Gazans to indescribable, baseless, tasteless suffering," he went on. "We hope with all of our hearts that this violent conflict will end soon."

The prime minister went on to explain Israel's conditions for a cease-fire.

"Two things must happen in order for the fighting to end quickly; firstly, residents of the Sderot, Ashkelon, Netivot, Nahal Oz and Beersheba must be able to live as quietly as people in Paris and London. Secondly, we must ensure that the terror groups will not be able to smuggle weapons into Gaza in the future," said Olmert.

"I don't think our demands are exaggerated. We share the right of every state in the world to protect its citizens. We're not asking any other country's permission or approval in order to protect our residents," he said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Israel Radio that Israel was a country that reacts vigorously when its citizens are fired upon. "That is something that Hamas now understands and that is how we are going to react in the future, if they so much as dare fire one missile at Israel."

Also on Monday, special Mideast envoy Tony Blair said that elements were in place for the creation of a cease-fire to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The former British prime minister was speaking in Cairo where he met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, following meetings in Israel.

"I think the elements of an agreement for the immediate cease-fire are there," Blair said, adding that, while more work needed to be done, he hoped to see a cease-fire "in the coming days."

Blair is the Middle East envoy for the Quartet, the US, EU, Russia and the UN, supervising the Middle East peace process.