Has Israel’s defense minister changed approach on Hamas?
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman estimates that provoking Hamas and generating a military confrontation with the group does not serve Israel’s security interest.
Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman convened a press conference on July 15, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, attacking what he perceived as the weakness of the government of which he was a member. “We should conquer Gaza,” he said in a confident tone. “We can’t contemplate and hesitate all the time. This hesitation works against us. We have to go all the way. There is no other alternative here.”
Liberman already called to conquer the Gaza Strip and topple the Hamas government back in June 2013, in response to rocket fire from Gaza. “There will not be a choice; what is needed is to seriously consider conquering Gaza and carry out a thorough cleansing,” he said in a radio interview. “Today there are hundreds of factories there working to develop and manufacture weapons, not to improve the quality of life or develop a civilian industry but to develop weapons.”
In the election campaign for the 20th Knesset, Liberman started a campaign to be appointed defense minister. In a tour of the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, looking out at Gaza from afar, he said [in March 2015], “When I’m defense minister, Hamas’ end will come.”
And one can’t forget his statement two days before he was appointed defense minister in May 2016, when he threatened then-Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in the course of an event in the southern city of Beersheba. “I’m telling you, and you can catch me at my word,” Liberman turned to the interviewer, “everything is recorded here. When I’m defense minister, I give Mr. Haniyeh 48 hours. Either you return the bodies and civilians or you die. As far as I’m concerned, just reserve a spot at the closest cemetery.”
