An Israeli mission to destroy the terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, an Israeli official said Monday.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Israel should conduct a mission similar to the country's Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank, which occurred in the spring of 2002.
Lieberman also advised Rice not to pressure Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to take steps that would cause the downfall of the Israeli government.
"In the current political conditions, the government cannot allow itself to make controversial decisions on sensitive issues," Lieberman told Rice. "The conference planned for Annapolis is a mistake. It will be just another conference and just another document. Without a noticeable improvement in Israeli security or Palestinian economic conditions, the conference will not be different than any of the unsuccessful conferences of the past."
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