In protest of Gaza ceasefire and efforts to reach an arrangement with Hamas, Defense Minister Lieberman resigns and quits the government; Israel is ‘buying short-term quiet at the cost of serious damage to national security on the long term,’ he charges.
Avigdor Lieberman resigned from his post as defense minister on Wednesday in protest of the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, criticizing it as “surrender to terrorism.”
“The question being asked is why now. As far as I’m concerned, the ceasefire yesterday, along with the entire process of reaching an arrangement with Hamas, means surrendering to terrorism,” Lieberman said at during a special meeting of his Yisrael Beytenu faction.
He charged that in negotiating with Hamas, Israel was “buying short-term quiet at the cost of serious damage to national security on the long term.”
“It’s no secret there have been disagreements between the prime minister and myself in recent months,” he said. “I’ll mention allowing in (to Gaza) Qatari-funded fuel, which I thought was a mistake. It was only after the prime minister issued a written order that I had to allow the Qatari-funded fuel into the strip.”
Lieberman’s resignation will come into effect within 48 hours. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to take on the defense minister’s job until further notice.
Immigration and Absorption Minister Sofa Landver, who is a member of Lieberman’s party, is also expected to tend in her resignation from the government.
A senior Likud official said that Lieberman’s resignation “doesn’t necessarily mean calling early elections at a time of such a sensitive security situation. The government can live out its days.”
As reported by Ynetnews