Israeli minister pessimistic about Libya effect

The Israeli Minister for Home Front Defence has said he is pessimistic about the repercussions across the region of the situation in Libya. Speaking during an inspection of the “Iron Dome” air defence system deployed near Ashkelon, Matan Vilnai said that “the developments in Libya are not in Israel’s interest in the short run, but they will be in its interest in the long run”. He added that he considers the Libyan Revolution to be far-removed from the Arab Spring, and rules out the establishment of a democratic system in Libya in the near future.

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Vilnai rejected the statements about Israel’s loss of its deterrent capability following the latest escalation of violence in the south of the country. He stressed that the Israel Defence Forces hit the perpetrators of the attack in Eilat (Umm Al Rashrash) last Thursday, and won’t hesitate to hit them again when necessary.