Lieberman attacks Netanyahu: There is no deterrence
Yisrael Beytenu leader tells Ynet government has no vision, no direction, and no plan; he believes elections will take place in the spring 2016.
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman strongly attacked his former political partner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, saying in the wake of two recent terror attacks that Israel has lost its deterrence.
"I think that there has been a loss of deterrence. My position was very clear before and after Operation Protective Edge, and unfortunately the government did not accept my opinion. We see today's reality," he said.
"There is no deterrence," the former foreign minister stressed. "On the contrary, they are succeding at deterring us. We are buying peace from them at the cost of them restoring their terrorist infrastructure."
During an interview with Ynet on Sunday, Lieberman repeated his assessment that Netanyahu's fourth government will fall apart by the end of 2015 and that he believes the next elections will be held in the spring of 2016.
He also claimed that he had no need to act to topple the government: "They are doing it all by themselves, and they're doing it pretty well. I look at the different parts (of the government) and how it works there, mainly in the committees and the plenum. There's no chance, it will not last. I think Israel has no choice. It is not a matter of Yisrael Beytenu. This is a government with no vision, no direction, and no plan. Its only program is to survive and survive and survive and therefore, there is no choice."
Last week, opposition member hinted during a tour of Ma'aleh Adumim with his faction that the construction of 1,000 housing units there may cause him to join the government.
"The mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim welcomed us and as usual the whining started that for five or six years not a single unit has been approved. Before the elections, the prime minister and all the senior ministers visited there and promised. Elections are over, there is no sign of life, and then they ask, 'Why don't you join the government? Why aren't you in the coalition?'
"So I laughed and said in front of the cameras: 'I'm telling you, how much did Likud get here? 50 percent in the elections? Yisrael Beytenu did not get 50 percent, but we also visit after the elections. When the prime minister signs the approval of 1,000 housing units, then come to me and we will have something to talk about."
Lieberman went on to say that Netanyahu's government "hurts the most important population group in the State of Israel that we represent. Those who serve in the army, do reserve duty, work and pay taxes. We saw the Finance Committee discussing canceling benefits to those who served in the army and comparing their benefits to the rest of the population. We saw the same thing with the criteria for daycare centers when both parents work - it was canceled.
"Also attacked were equality in the national burden, conversion - all those issues. I'm not even talking about the fact that this government is not prepared to build in Jewish neighborhoods - in Jerusalem or in the settlement blocs," he added.
Lieberman also slammed reports of indirect behind-the-scenes talks with Hamas on a long-term ceasefire, "On the one hand, Hamas has taken responsibility for the murder of the Israeli who went to the spring. On the other hand, I hear that we are negotiating a five-year truce with Hamas, which is in fact a surrender to terrorism, it's trying to buy peace at any price.
"I have not heard that we are responding. Hamas took responsibility here, saying that the terrorist is part of the same cell that is named for the cell that murdered the three boys in Gush Etzion. What is our response aside from searching the area? Nothing at all. In Gaza, they are digging tunnels, building fortifications, manufacturing missiles and we are simply doing nothing. You have to give the nation direction, there must be a vision," he concluded.
