Israel after the ceasefire

The following is an excerpt; for full story, listen to audio.

Israeli officials say their cause was just, and the means proportionate.

"The World" anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who says Israel’s campaign in Gaza was successful: "We’ve achieved three fundamental issues here we believe can lead to long-term stability in the south of our country, and the people in Southern Israel will no longer be on the receiving end of these Hamas rockets.

"Firstly, the Hamas military machine … at the moment it’s substantially destroyed — I’m not saying it’s gone altogether, but we have succeeded in tearing apart that machine.

"Secondly, because of the international support we received — from America, from Egypt, from the European Union — it’s clear that there will be international mechanisms in place to prevent Hamas from re-arming. Because if we just took apart the Hamas military machine today and then Iran would send more and more rockets, more and more missiles, then in a matter of months you’d be back to square one. There are international commitments to prevent that from happening.

"Thirdly, despite all the bravado coming out of Hamas, I think it’s clear that Hamas leadership … they’ll think very carefully before they once again shoot rockets at Israeli civilians."

PRI’s "The World" is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. "The World" is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston.

More "The World."