Two ministers in the Israeli cabinet on Friday ended a month of mutual attacks in which they competed on opposing truce with "Hamas" and seeking to topple its government.
The dispute culminated when the minister of education, Naftali Bennett, accused his colleague, the Minister of Defense, Avigdor Lieberman, of working to strengthen the rule of Hamas. He told him that those who want to bring down the movement at the lowest price tend to liquidate their leaders one by one and not negotiate with them a “false calm.”
Lieberman has changed his previous opinion on the assassination of Hamas leaders and the overthrowing of their rule, and has spoken in recent days about the elimination of Hamas rule in Gaza through the Palestinian public in the sector.
The defense minister expressed his opinion in an interview with the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, saying: “There are two options: The Israeli army can overthrow Hamas in Gaza, which means paying the price of taking control over the Strip, or it can lead Gaza’s residents to overthrow Hamas themselves.” He stressed that the second option “guarantees much more stability.”
Bennett responded to Lieberman, saying that the assassination of Hamas leaders was the best solution and that Israel should do so as soon as possible.
He rejected Lieberman’s remarks and stressed, during a radio interview on Friday, the need to target Hamas leaders and hit the movement’s military capabilities, especially rocket launchers in the Gaza Strip. “It is the duty of the Israeli government to disarm the Gaza Strip, destroy the movement’s tunnels and dismantle the movement’s ties with Iran,” he said.
Bennett denied that he was calling for an invasion of the Gaza Strip. “We know where Hamas rocket launchers are. We have to destroy them completely. We also have to destroy their ability to produce rockets,” he noted.
