Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel may reoccupy parts of the Gaza strip in the future, while speaking at a meeting of the Fisher Institute on "Operation Cast Lead" Friday.
Barak also spoke about considerations of military operations in the future, commenting: "Wherever possible, we dot not go to war or perform military operations unless we have to - this is how it should be."
However, he asserted that there are also cases where the opposite is true; it seems as though an attack is not necessary at that moment, yet the consequences of delaying it would be very grave.
Speaking at the same conference, former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi said that the political leadership must involve the military leadership in decision making over possible future wars.
"Strategic decisions must be taken into consideration in the dialogue between the political and military echelons before a war," he said, stressing that this discourse ultimately shapes goals of a war and whether or not they are realistic.
According to Ashkenazi, "the General Staff and its leadership must be there. They should be a central part of discourse."
Ashkenazi continued that if this was not the current situation, then it must be implemented, "both concerning issues on the agenda, and issues that may be on the agenda."
Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni commented upon recent speculation regarding US-Israel cooperation on Iran at the conference: "Israel's relationship with the United States is not related to the internal American political debate during the US elections.
"The strong dialogue flowing in recent weeks is just another leader friendly to Israel standing up and saying 'Do not attack Iran.'"

JPost.com