Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman accused Netanyahu of harming settlements in Judea and Samaria today (Monday) at the start of the faction's meeting in the Knesset - saying: "I can say that the current coalition is the result of the scorched earth that Netanyahu left behind.".
Liberman attacked: "On the issue of the Judea and Samaria Regulations Law, the position of Netanyahu and his friends does not surprise anyone. They have already explained clearly, and we heard it from Knesset member Miri Regev, that they are not interested in anything: not battered women, not soldiers, and certainly not the settlement. The main thing is power, and for the sake of power, everything is permitted.".
""The second reason why I am very unsurprised - there is no one who has harmed the settlement enterprise and Judea and Samaria more than Netanyahu. We can recall January 1997 when Netanyahu transferred Hebron to Arafat. We can recall October 1998 when, following a meeting with the Israelis, Netanyahu transferred part of the territories of Judea and Samaria to Arafat. We can recall Netanyahu's vote in late October 2004 and early 2005 in favor of disengagement, and we can recall Netanyahu's decision in 2009 to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria after Obama's victory in the US. Therefore, harming Judea and Samaria and settlements is a tradition for Netanyahu, it's in his DNA.".
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Lieberman added: "Even in the last year of his term, when there was a real option to pass a law applying sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. He had a majority and we told him to bring up the proposal, so we were in opposition, and despite that we said we were committed to voting in favor of sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and Jewish settlement, but of course Netanyahu ran away - and that's all the difference.".
""Netanyahu was the one who also released Yahya Sinwar from prison and we learned that he continued to correspond with him when he was already in Gaza, and this is the situation:.
He clarified: "The coalition will have to find a way to overcome the situation that has arisen. I can say that the current coalition is the result of the scorched earth that Netanyahu left behind. Who doesn't remember how Netanyahu left the country? Remember that capitulation to the terrorist threats and the change in the outline of the flag parade, and even though he surrendered to the dictates of Islamic Jihad and Hamas, rockets were fired towards Jerusalem, starting with the color 'Guardian of the Walls.'".
""All those riots that broke out in the mixed cities and those lynchings in Acre and Jaffa, it all happened on his watch and that of Amir Ohana as Minister of the Defense Ministry. That incident with many casualties in Meron - that was also on his watch. He left scorched earth and without a budget and continues to harm everything possible.".
""The latest example is the Omicron law, which has been on the agenda since the opening of the summer conference, and the opposition has submitted hundreds of reservations, thereby harming first and foremost those businessmen who are unable to realize the same assistance that the government decided on. In other words, for the government, everything is permitted, there are no red lines, no conscience, nothing - the main thing is the government.".
Lieberman emphasized: "I hope that in the end people will understand that it is important to pass the Regulations Law, and secondly, I expect the leaders of the Yesha Council to stand up to Netanyahu and demand that he support those regulations, and I also hope that they will sit in the Knesset gallery and look into the eyes of all those MKs from the Likud and Religious Zionism and see how they vote.".
Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar said at his faction meeting: "The opposition led by Netanyahu to oppose the law is a violation of Israel's national interest and a violation of half a million citizens who live in Judea and Samaria. There is another people here who prefer personal interests over national interests.".
He emphasized: "All members of the coalition's Knesset must support the government bill. This is the government's decision and this is the status quo that has existed for 55 years. A member of the coalition's Knesset who does not support the law is actively working to dismantle it. Opposition within the coalition is possible perhaps when there is a very broad coalition, but certainly impossible in a coalition of 60 members.".
Sa'ar added: "In a coalition, you can't just accept, there's also responsibility. Whoever doesn't support won't be able to wash their hands of the situation. That's how you can't run a country. I've been watching data for the past few days and just in the last few hours for the law to be passed, that's the responsibility that falls on me as Minister of Justice.".
