Israel must strengthen its military and "flex our muscle" to crush terrorists who show no fear of reprisal for their horrific killing sprees, says Danny Danon, a Likud party member of the Knesset and former deputy minister of defense to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"There's only one answer, to build the deterrence of Israel again. What's happened in the last few months is that our enemies are not afraid anymore of us, and this is very dangerous," Danon said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"We have to build our strength, flex our muscle and show that we are strong, we are not afraid to use our force.
"If we need to destroy the houses of the terrorists, we should do it immediately . . . and we should deport the families of the terrorists, immediately.
Danon's remarks came a day after the bloody slaughter of four rabbis and a police officer inside a Jerusalem synagogue. Hamas is being blamed for the atrocity.
"Unfortunately, after the war in Gaza in the summer, the Hamas and the [Palestinian Authority], they don't feel that they have to be afraid of us," Danon said. "We have to show our strength in order to build our strength again."
Danon said he visited the site of the massacre.
"I couldn't believe it. When you see the hatred, the murder of innocent people who woke up in the morning, went to pray, and were butchered by terrorists," he said.
"You understand with whom we are dealing. Unfortunately, the [Obama] administration is still not capable to understand what we are facing here in Jerusalem.
"It is not a conflict about territory, about sovereignty, it's radical forces that are fighting . . . Eventually they will go after you, the American people, because it's a religious issue of radical forces that cannot accept Christians or Jews praying or living in Jerusalem."
Danon said Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, tries to have it both ways in both denouncing Hamas and then quietly supporting it.
"He sends letters to terrorists who tried to kill one of the rabbis a few weeks ago. So, you cannot endorse terrorism and a few weeks after say you are not happy about it," he said.
"We see today Hamas and the PA working together with incitement against the people who live here in Israel. This is something that we have to face, and we expect our American allies to stand with us, to support us in the fight against terrorists.
"I can assure you that it's not going to happen only in Jerusalem, it can happen also in New York City and everywhere when you have radical Muslims fighting against Christians and Jews."