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Israeli Minister: Iran Seeking to Create New Front Against Israel; Palestinians Not Coming to Gaza Border with Good Intentions
(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - Iran is aiming to create a Shia arc from the Persian Gulf, through Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, Construction Minister Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav Gallant, a member of Israel's security cabinet and a former head of the IDF Southern Command, said Tuesday. "All of a sudden we can find ourselves in a situation where Israel and Jordan are surrounded by Iranian supporters - Shia militias, Hizbullah and others - and this will be only the first phase of Iran's general idea." "I am sure that in their dreams they are thinking about how to go to the next phase, how to create the collapse of Jordan, and create another 400-km. front with Israel, something that will put a new dimension on the whole situation." Israel has been saying for months that it will not allow the Iranians to establish a launching pad against it in Syria. Regarding Palestinian plans to march en masse to the Gaza-Israel border fence, Gallant said that Israel "cannot allow these people to cross the border" and pose a threat to Israeli communities. If people "behave peacefully" on the Gaza side, "this is their own business. But if we see that their motivation is to cross the border, we will not act only at the last second when thousands of people are destroying the fence. We will use whatever is necessary to prevent them from doing that." "We understand that these people are not coming with good intentions. We are willing to help the Palestinians in Gaza, but we are not willing to allow them to cross the border to sabotage the kibbutzim and moshavim" inside Israel.