Those who can do - do, and those who can't do - become Knesset members

In an effort to resurrection confidence in the government Israeli Knesset MP’s lash out at the Gaydamak initiative to help the citizens of Sderot reports Ynet News:

Sunday morning, government ministers backed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after he announced that he would remove the red tape so that the fortification plan could be implemented. They said that the government could be relied on and there was no need to depend on private people's initiatives.

"Gaydamak's proposals are ridiculous," said Minister Meir Sheetrit. "Can he really fortify Sderot? Such a project would cost – and I say this as housing and construction minister – somewhere between NIS 800 million to NIS 1 billion. What he says cannot be taken seriously.

"There is a state of panic, hysteria," Sheetrit added. "I understand these people, but Sderot has bomb shelters. Is the government supposed to prepare the shelters? Each house should be responsible for their own one. You cannot lay all the responsibility on the government. Fortification of the houses in Sderot is a long process and it will not happen in a day. Gaydamak can definitely not solve the problem."

Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch admitted that the Israeli government should have dealt with Sderot and the Gaza vicinity communities a long time ago: "Unfortunately, when there is such a void, Arcadi steps in. For whatever reasons, the government had not made the decision. It should have, a long time ago, but I hope that now, after it has, the residents will be safe."
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Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog said that people should not take advantage of the situation to weaken the government. "You cannot expect the government to do everything at unreasonable speed. I suggest we stay away from spins and unjustified headlines, like the ones in the media since yesterday," he said.

Normally, I would agree that the responsibility for reinforcing rooms in one's home is the responsibility for individual householders but when the government insists on taking action contrary to their own security interests; and thereby, deliberately creates the environment which endangers the lives of its' own citizens the responsiblity lies firmly with the government.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t point out that the Israeli government has had in total six years in which to act. Nineteen months ago 10-15 kassams were falling approximately every month in Sderot but the salvos only seriously accelerated since the Olmert’s administrations ceasefire last November with the various Palestinian terrorist fractions.