Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) on Wednesday morning announced he would hold a press conference at noon, and his associates have suggested he plans to announce his resignation from the government, Haaretz reported, noting that Liberman does not arrive at the Knesset on Wednesdays. He will convene the Yisrael Beiteinu faction at noon, then give a statement to the press and answer questions.
Liberman has been contemplating his resignation for some time, over to his feeling that he is not able to lead the defense establishment in the direction he wants it to go.
Likud officials have been concerned this past week that Liberman would resign in light of the disagreements in the political-security cabinet regarding Israel’s response to the attacks on its civilians from Gaza Strip terrorists, and the failure to formulate an agreement on the draft law to be passed by the Knesset before December 2.
Liberman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Habayit Hayehudi) each published a statement at the end of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting that they did not support the ceasefire with Hamas. But Liberman, who had been entangled in a fight for the rightwing voters with Bennett, tweeted: “Either Bennett suffers from memory loss, or he’s just lying. In contrast to me, who strongly opposed the arrangement with Hamas and especially the transfer of money, Bennett supported from the start transferring the money to Gaza, along with Qatari fuel, and even offered to bring 5,000 workers from Gaza to Israel. Bennett opposed any military action against Hamas and the responsibility for the ‘protection’ is his and his party’s.”
The DM was referring to the allegations that Israel permitted passage of $15 million from Qatar to Hamas as protection money.
Sources close to the defense minister said that since the last round of violence, he had been demanding “tough and decisive action against Hamas.”
Sources close to Bennett said he, too, was “strongly opposed” to softening the approach to Hamas.
However, other sources indicated that all the ministers ultimately supported the position of the unified security officials who insisted action should be taken to calm the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.