MK Avigdor Lieberman
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Lieberman's Plan: Squash Assad
Head of Israel Our Home Knesset faction not impressed with Olmert's address, emphasizes: 'Ceasefire without return of kidnapped soldiers and dismantling of Hizbullah – a failure.' Adds, this is time to attack Syria
The speech given by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday night and the supporting speech by MK Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the opposition, created a distinct impression of unity – but head of the Israel Our Home faction, MK Avigdor Lieberman, didn’t rush to join the fun.
Granted, for now, there is a feeling of unity and support; criticism, promises Lieberman, will be along, later. "It's too early to praise the prime minister and defense minister. It's important to support them now, but we can judge them only when the operation is over," Lieberman said to ynet Tuesday.
Lieberman has yet to join the camp of Olmert's followers. "I didn't get too excited from the prime minister's speech to the Knesset plenum. We need to examine only the final outcomes – and, the truth is, I'm a bit worried about those outcomes.
"Any outcome of ceasefire constitutes a complete failure for Olmert. A ceasefire will last only until the next confrontation, which will take place under even harsher conditions. A ceasefire granted without dismantling Hizbullah capabilities, ensuring deployment of Lebanese armed forces from the Litani south to the Israeli border, and securing the return of our kidnapped soldiers – is a failure," he said.
We need deterrence
The MK added that "placing missiles on Lebanese soil is, in my eyes, comparable to placing Russian missiles on Cuban soil, which almost led to the initiation of a third world war. We cannot and must not live under the threat of such missiles."
"Ceasefire is a mistaken concept – we need deterrence. We need to aim, not for a temporary agreement, but rather a permanent, written agreement between Israel, Lebanon, and the quartet. In the event of a temporary ceasefire, terrorists will merely use the quiet in order to rearm and recruit, and the situation will begin all over again," Lieberman continues. In his opinion, Israel must resist a ceasefire that does not comply with the three aforementioned conditions and also, exert pressure on Syria.
To a certain degree, he claims, we should extend operations to Syria. "Assad is panicking. We can squash him so hard that he would quickly quit his involvement with and support of Hizbullah. We have at our disposal the means and the opportunity to exert pressure on Syria. For example, we could attack airports, the Beirut-Damascus road and other things that I recommended to the prime minister. Assad knows that American forces are sitting on one side of his borders and that are forces are sitting on the other side.
"We could squash him," Lieberman repeated, "Notice that he hasn't said a word, publicly, about Hizbullah."
Lieberman doesn't stop at Syria and also emphasizes his stance regarding Iran's involvement in the current crisis. "Iran is always trying to heat things up. The Iranians stand behind this conflict and they were able to distract the international community's attention away from their plans for nuclear development.
"Israel, in her behavior regarding Iran, reminds me of Jews in Europe prior to Hitler's rise to power. Why wait three years for Iran to acquire a Shihab 3 or 4 and threaten our existence? I can't not recall the Jews is Europe on the eve of the war who said 'not to pay attention to Hitler, he's just crazy. He just says crazy things and will not act.' Israel must not sit and wait – the Iranian president means what he says."
