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Why hasn't Israel lifted the Gaza blockade?

With Education Minister Naftali Bennett joining those objecting the continued Gaza blockade, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon must rethink their position.
A sign is seen at the Erez border crossing between Israel and northern Gaza Strip December 28, 2014. Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip prevented on Sunday a group of Palestinian children who lost parents in the July-August war with Israel from making a rare goodwill visit to the Jewish state, organisers of the trip said. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4JF9V

If even Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the most right-wing member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, has reached the conclusion that the siege on the Gaza Strip should be lifted, we can only wonder: What is actually delaying Netanyahu? After all, lifting the siege would be an easy and wise move on the part of Israel.

In a Jan. 19 speech at the conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, Bennett harshly criticized Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and accused them of a “conceptual freeze.” Bennett presented the Gaza Strip as an example and said, “After all, you won’t suspect that I’m a lefty, God forbid, but are we doing the right thing in Gaza? Wouldn’t it be better to reconcile with reality and disengage from our responsibility for the Gazans, open new paths in their lives with proper security oversight?”

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