'This is not a war': Israel Katz's controversial statement
During a quiz in an interview at the Israel Security Conference, Minister of Defense Israel Katz was asked to name the defense ministers during Israel's wars. When reaching the Second Lebanon War and Operation Protective Edge, Katz claimed these were not wars. In the Second Lebanon War alone, 165 Israelis were killed and thousands wounded.
A controversial statement by the Minister of Defense: During an interview held at the Israel Security Conference, Minister of Defense Israel Katz was asked a short quiz in which he was requested to name the defense ministers who served during Israel's wars throughout the generations.
When the interviewer reached the Second Lebanon War, the Minister of Defense paused before naming Amir Peretz and stated: 'This is not a war.' Later, when reaching Operation Protective Edge in 2014, Minister Katz repeated a similar statement and claimed that this event is also not considered a war.
The harsh data of the campaigns
The Minister of Defense's statement raises questions, especially in light of the heavy price in body and soul that these campaigns exacted.
In the Second Lebanon War, which lasted 34 days in 2006, the State of Israel paid a very heavy price:
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121 soldiers fell in battle (including the two soldiers who were kidnapped, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, of blessed memory).
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44 civilians were murdered as a result of extensive rocket fire at the home front.
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About 2,000 civilians and 628 soldiers were wounded to varying degrees of severity.
Also in Operation Protective Edge, which took place in the summer of 2014 in the Gaza Strip and lasted about 50 days, 68 IDF soldiers and 6 civilians were killed, and hundreds more were wounded.
