[On Jan. 14, at least three Katyusha-class rockets were fired into
Israel from neighboring Lebanon, Middle East Newsline reported. This marked the second such rocket attack
since Jan. 8. No group has claimed responsibility and nobody was injured.]
Officials said the chief advocates of a rapid end to the ground
operation have been Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi
Livni. Both are regarded as close to the United States and receive much of
their financing for their election campaign from elements close to the
incoming Obama administration.
"Barak has been under heavy pressure by those close to Obama to stop the
ground invasion," another official said. "The reason there has not been a
major operation in Gaza City is because of the pressure on Barak."
Instead, Barak was said to favor an army withdrawal from all but
northern Gaza and the continuation of Operation Cast Lead by the Israel Air
Force and Navy. Officials said Barak has urged Olmert to allow Egypt to play
a key role in any ceasefire in exchange for a commitment by Cairo to stop
weapons smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip.
Barak was expected to send his senior aide, Amos Gilad, to Egypt on Jan.
15 to negotiate a security arrangement along the Gaza-Sinai border.
Officials said Barak, supported by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi,
has proposed an immediate week-long ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian aid
to the Gaza Strip. At the same time, Barak would seek to advance talks with
Cairo to block weapons smuggling to the Gaza Strip.
"Barak accepts the view of [the military's] Southern Command chief Maj.
Gen. Yoav Galant that expanding the operation and occupying Gaza would
require a lengthy deployment — possibly up to a year," the Israeli daily
Haaretz reported. "The defense minister is concerned that when U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama takes office next Tuesday, he will demand that
Israel immediately cease the operation."
For her part, Ms. Livni was said to share Barak's belief that Israel
could come under severe U.S. pressure when Obama enters office. Officials
said the foreign minister has stressed that Bush was the only one to have
blocked U.S. support for a United Nations Security Council resolution that
demanded an immediate ceasefire.
"Tzipi believes that the government can claim victory and withdraw," the
official said.
At this point, Olmert has refused to convene his senior ministers to
decide on whether to continue the war. A meeting of the Cabinet's security
committee, scheduled for Jan. 14, was not held to avoid a showdown between
the prime minister and Barak and Ms. Livni.
Officials said the argument over when to end the Hamas war was linked to
the approach of Israeli parliamentary elections on Feb. 10. Sources close to
Olmert have argued that the elections should be postponed until normalcy
returns to southern Israel.
"The cynics say Olmert wants to stay in office longer, but cooler heads
understand that if Hamas still has rockets, it could completely disrupt
voting and then there will be a leadership crisis in the country," an Olmert
source said.
Likud Party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, who leads in the polls, has
rejected the prospect of an election delay. Netanyahu has called for the
destruction of the Hamas regime.
"I think if we do not hold it on time, it will give the terrorists an
enormous victory," Netanyahu told a news conference on Jan. 13. "It means
that they hold Israeli democracy hostage."
