Gov’t negotiating with Hamas, Liberman says
‘This is a regime that is indecisive and is afraid of fighting terrorism’
Israel is negotiating with Hamas by way of intermediaries, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said on Saturday.
The former foreign minister named those intermediaries as Egypt and Nikolay Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.
“Israel has passed dozens of messages to Hamas in order to buy quiet, hoping that the problem will be passed on to” the next government, Liberman charged at a cultural event in Beersheba.
The government has adopted a faulty diplomatic approach, he said.
“It [the government] allows Hamas to continue to build terrorist infrastructure and forces so that it [Hamas] can embark on a military campaign at its convenience. If everyone is saying that the next confrontation with Hamas is inevitable, why are we allowing Hamas to become stronger? So they can set out for battle and be more comfortable?” he asked.
Liberman said the government policy was “limp and defeated.”
“This is a leadership that is not built for and is not able, mentally, to deal with the challenges that it is facing on a daily basis. It is a government that is indecisive and is afraid of fighting terrorism. Terrorism must be defeated, not tolerated,” he said.
On recent reports of plans to build a sea port in the Gaza Strip, Liberman said that Hamas only wants it so it can have an “uncontrolled point of entry for rockets, missiles and other weapons and create a reality similar to Hezbollah’s presence in southern Lebanon.”
While serving as foreign minister during the most recent Gaza war (Operation Cast Lead) in the summer of 2014, Liberman urged the government to topple Hamas and pave the way for a moderate leadership to take the reins in the Palestinian enclave.
At the time, he warned against a Hamas-run Gaza, saying that the Palestinian organization was no different than the other Islamic terrorist groups threatening the region, including Islamic State and al-Qaida.
In response to Liberman’s accusations on Saturday, the Likud party released a statement mocking his comments, saying he is not qualified to make military decisions.
“Liberman is trying to change his career from failed political commentator to military commentator, a position he is not qualified for,” the statement begins.
Liberman is “a man who has never led one soldier into the battlefield, and has never had to make a military decision during an operation.”
Therefore, as he is not qualified give advice about military matters, “he should just stay a small politician and chatterbox who insists on giving his opinion to those who are responsible for running the country,” the Likud statement added.
The Likud accused Liberman of planning to run in the next election together with Yesh Atid in order to bring about a left-wing government.
“In the moment of truth, Liberman will choose the Left,” the Likud said.
Channel 2 reported Saturday night on a new joint effort by all opposition factions to limit prime ministers to two terms. The Likud responded that this was an attempt by Liberman together with Joint List MK Haneen Zoabi to topple a right-wing government.
“The Left cannot accept that the public chooses Netanyahu time after time, so they are trying to force the public to accept a left-wing government using anti-democratic legislation,” the Likud said.
Gil Hoffman and Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.