(UPI,Ynet) .Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Monday urged Israel's political leaders to unite against worldwide criticism of Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
Netanyahu specifically condemned the Kadima Party for submitting a no-confidence motion against his government, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Speaking during a Likud faction meeting, the prime minister noted that during the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead, his party did not initiate any no-confidence votes against the Kadima government.
"We remember Cast Lead, the Second Lebanon War and the attack on Israel. We know that during those events the situation was different: The opposition clearly stood by the government, for months," Netanyahu said.
He stressed that despite the fact that the upcoming elections in the winter of 2009, his party did not slam the government's conduct during the Gaza operation.
In an apparent attempt to tease Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, Netanyahu said: "In Cast Lead we were in the middle of an election campaign. My friends and I gave interviews, time after time. Not for five minutes, but because we were internally convinced. The same happened during the Second Lebanon War. It's not that we did not have any criticism. The first time we submitted a no-confidence motion was two months after the war, and even then it wasn't about the war."
In a message to Kadima, the prime minister said, "What I demand and expect of the opposition is what we have demanded of ourselves: Restraint, commitment to the State, really standing behind the State of Israel. The next flotilla is in the horizon. It's not over. We must stand together and act responsibly. Together we can ward it off."
"The State of Israel is under attack. The attack is aimed at breaking the siege on the Hamas rule in Gaza. The siege was rightfully imposed by the previous government in order to prevent the entry of missiles, rockets and other weapons directed at Israel's citizens. The attack against us did not begin now and now a week ago; it has been going on for several years."