Yisrael Beytenu Party Chairman, MK Avigdor Lieberman, said today (Monday) at a meeting of the Yisrael Beytenu faction that he is willing to enter a coalition without conditions - but that the prime minister declare that the goal of the operation is to eliminate Hamas.
"I'm ready to join the government in an hour, a minute after the prime minister makes it clear that the goal of the operation is to eliminate Hamas, and secondly, the era of regulation is over. Until I hear this in front of the media, I won't be a fig leaf," he said. "As I said, I don't want any position, I don't want to be a minister, we don't have any demands, I don't want a coalition agreement, just a clear commitment.".
Lieberman also sent a letter to the prime minister and cabinet members, about the elimination of Hamas and the end of the era of the settlement policy: "I do not seek to be a minister, we do not seek any coalition agreement or positions. But we do not intend to be a fig leaf, I have already been in this movie.
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""Therefore, there must be a public commitment from the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and the Chief of Staff to the people of Israel. All three of them must announce with their voices that the elimination of Hamas, the leaders of Hamas, and the end of the era of settlement are acceptable to them, and these are the goals of the current conflict. A minute after this explicit announcement, I and the Yisrael Beiteinu faction are joining the coalition.".
Liberman added: "The terrible reality we find ourselves in today is a direct result of a cabinet decision dated November 13, 2018, which approved the settlement policy, which is a wash of words for surrendering to terrorism.
""On November 14, 2018, when I announced my resignation as Minister of Defense, I said these things: 'A ceasefire with Hamas is a surrender to terrorism, buying short-term peace at the price of a serious blow to national security in the long term... We have revealed weaknesses, the cabinet's standing has been eroded... The South comes first.".
""If they had accepted my proposal at that cabinet meeting, we would not have reached the difficult situation we are in today. It was conduct exactly as Churchill described it: 'In the choice between shame and war, you chose shame, and you received both shame and war.'".
""Therefore, as of this moment, it must be made clear in a government decision and in a directive issued to the Chief of Staff and from the Chief of Staff to the entire army: The goal is the complete elimination of Hamas, the era of regulation is over, from now on and forever.".
He emphasized: "Stop talking in slogans, eliminating Hamas means eliminating the entire Hamas leadership, both in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Malaysia, Qatar and wherever they are hiding.".
""This is a decision that Golda Meir made after the Munich Agreement, and this is what we must do now. There is no escape from a ground entry into Gaza City and the cleansing of all Hamas strongholds and their command and control centers. We don't have to stay in Gaza and we don't have to manage Gaza - we have to clean out the stables and get out.".
""It must be made clear that there will be no more entry of workers, there will be no entry of Qatari money, not even one cent, the Qatari envoy will not be allowed to enter Gaza, the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings will be closed permanently.
""Opening the crossings to bring in fuel and goods is the most immoral thing imaginable. The first people to be murdered by human beings were actually those who were at the Kerem Shalom crossing and allowed the various products and fuels to enter the Strip.".
""From now on, all supplies to the Strip will be possible only through the port of Al-Arish and the Rafah crossing, which unfortunately is also open at this moment. I also welcome the decision made to stop the supply of electricity and water to the Strip, this too must be permanent.".
Lieberman added: "The mind cannot bear the fact that we will provide anything to ensure the functioning of the Strip, after the human animals murdered people who came to celebrate at a party, people who were sitting in their homes, kidnapped over a hundred people to the Gaza Strip, abused innocent civilians, women, the elderly and children, and fired thousands of rockets at the State of Israel.
""No international law can justify providing water and electricity to those vile murderers who committed massacres, mass murders, and kidnappings. This is not about collective punishment, this is about thousands who participated in the atrocities as we have seen in the various media, and tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands who rejoiced and rejoiced in the face of these atrocities.".
""The perimeter must be strictly enforced as was customary in the past. Anyone who crosses the 200-meter line and approaches the fence must know that he is risking his life. Only in this way can we return the captives and missing persons, restore security to Israeli citizens, and restore Israeli deterrence.".
