Lieberman says Egyptian-mediated ceasefire with Hamas is ‘a capitulation to terror’
The Israeli defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has announced he is resigning from the conservative coalition government of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in protest at a Gaza truce.
Announcing his decision, which takes effect 48 hours after he puts it in writing, Lieberman called Tuesday’s Egyptian-mediated deal with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas “a capitulation to terror”.
“What happened yesterday – the truce combined with the process with Hamas – is capitulating to terror. It has no other meaning,” Lieberman told journalists.
“What we’re doing now as a state is buying short-term quiet, with the price being severe long-term damage to national security.”
He added later: “We should agree on a date for elections as early as possible.”
Lieberman also said his party was leaving Netanyahu’s coalition, which leaves the premier with only a one-seat majority in parliament.
Elections are not due until November 2019, but Lieberman’s resignation increases the likelihood of an earlier vote.
Lieberman, a security hardliner, heads the rightwing Yisrael Beitenu party, which holds five seats in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament.
Netanyahu has defended Tuesday’s ceasefire deal, which ended the most serious escalation between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since a 2014 war.
(Published by The Guardian, November 14, 2018)