Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced a new three-pronged policy for Israeli security, which includes carrots and sticks, dialogue with the Palestinian public and creating a list of close associates of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv Wednesday morning, according to a Jerusalem Post report, Liberman, who recently was appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to head the defense ministry in place of Moshe Ya’alon, said that his new carrot-and-stick plan was coordinated with the Israeli leader. “I update the prime minister on every detail,” he said.
Only a few weeks ago, Liberman compared the U.S.-led Iran nuclear deal to Neville Chamberlain’s disastrous Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler. Netanyahu claimed at the time that the statement was issued without his knowledge.
“According to the new policy,” the Post explains, “the defense establishment divided the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] map into two parts. The main part marked on the map in green represented the areas from which no terrorists had come, while a smaller part, mainly in the southern West Bank, from Hebron south, featured villages colored in red and yellow…
“The means of punishment for areas from where terror originates will include increased IDF activity in Area A of the West Bank, home demolitions, increased arrests, raids on homes from which terrorists came, confiscation of terror funds and property, the cancellation of V.I.P. permits for senior Palestinian Authority officials taking part in incitement, increased vehicle searches at the Kalandiya refugee camp and stricter enforcement against illegal building.”
The goal “is to create a dialogue with anyone who wants to talk to us,” Liberman said, clarifying, however, that “we have no intention to crown kings in the PA or to interfere in internal affairs.”
By: United with Israel Staff
(With files from The Jerusalem Post)