Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Netanyahu: IDF must remain deployed on border in Jordan Valley

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Jordan Rift Valley with senior IDF officials on Tuesday and said "the IDF must remain deployed on the border as part of any agreement. This is Israel's security border."

The prime minister stressed the importance of military presence in the Jordan Rift Valley. "This is where rocket smuggling is prevented. There is a security-political earthquake whose end isn't in sight."

Netanyahu also addressed recent rightist protest. "Price tag is an unacceptable term – there are no private militias here. There is no one to take matters into their own hands, A price tag is for the legal system to determine. This whole concept is wrong. We shall work to deal with the law breakers."

Netanyahu also addressed the status of female soldiers, on the occasion of the International Women's Day, and said: "There is a revolution – one third of the IDF is comprised of women. Three percent of the IDF's combating forces are women and that's a reflection of the change in women's status in Israel.

"When speaking about revolutions in the Muslim world one doesn't see a change in the status of women. Women are being stoned and used as commodities. Israel stands out for being democratic and allowing equality between the sexes, both in rights and duties. I salute women officers and combatants."