Only Solution is to Subdue Hamas, Foreign Minister Says

With the collapse of talks in Cairo and the renewal of fire from Gaza met with Israeli retaliation, FM Liberman is calling for a crushing victory over Hamas.

Smoke billows following an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern of Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Since the latest ceasefire was breached by Hamas on Tuesday afternoon, more than 70 rockets were launched at Israel. In response, the IDF targeted some 60 terror sites across the Gaza Strip.

In a Facebook post titled “Bring Hamas to submission,” Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman stated:

“I hope it is now clear to everyone that the policy of ‘quiet will be met with quiet’ means that Hamas takes the initiative and decides when, where, and to what degree it will fire on Israeli civilians.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government ministers have declared repeatedly that “fire will be met with fire.” Liberman criticized this policy, explaining that no matter how strong the Israeli response may be, it is nonetheless a mere response, while Hamas is calling the shots.

“Hamas controls the intensity of the fire and disrupts the lives of Israeli civilians  – Israelis in general and residents of the South in particular – whenever it feels like it,” the foreign minister said. “It happened yesterday, it happens today and it could happen on September 1 and on the eve of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year).”

The most recent proposal from the Palestinians lacked any “unequivocal commitment” to a lasting peace, which, Liberman continued, “means a war of attrition, and Israel must not be drawn into it.”

As for proposals from other lawmakers calling for unilateral steps by Israel, he recalled the unilateral disengagement in 2005 from Gaza, for which “we are paying still today.”

According to Liberman, if the Israeli leadership is seriously determined to bring security to Israeli civilians, there is “no realistic option…other than to subdue Hamas.”

Author: Atara Beck
Senior Writer/Editor, United with Israel