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Kisa na mkasa ni kushindwa kufikia muafaka wa mkataba wa kusitisha mapigano baina yake na Palestina
Ameshauri uteuzi ufanyike mapema, ili kunusuru Hali ya sasa ya sintofahamu!!
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Israeli Defense Minister Resigns, Threatening Netanyahu’s Grip on Power
Avigdor Lieberman has long disagreed with the Israeli prime minister’s response to months of flare ups with Gaza
Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman announces his intention to resign in his office at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Nov. 14. PHOTO:MENAHEM KAHANA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
TEL AVIV—Israel’s defense minister announced his intention to resign and withdraw his party from the ruling coalition Wednesday, a move that weakens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hold on power and could pressure him to call for early elections.
Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the right-leaning Yisrael Beiteinu party as well as defense minister, said he disagreed with a cease-fire reached between Israel and militant groups in Gaza, describing it as a “capitulation to terrorism.”
Israel and Hamas reached a truce Tuesday evening, after Hamas fired a record number of rockets and mortars into Israel over 24 hours. The attacks were in response to a botched Israeli intelligence-gathering mission that left seven Palestinian militants and one Israeli military officer dead in Gaza on Sunday.
Mr. Lieberman also called for early elections as he said his party would leave the current coalition. The exit of the hawkish party won’t automatically cause Mr. Netanyahu’s government to collapse, but reduces his coalition’s seats to 61 from 66 in the 120-seat Israeli parliament, or Knesset. Further attrition could spur other Knesset members to call for a vote of no confidence and trigger early elections.
Following Mr. Lieberman’s announcement, the Jewish Home party threatened to leave the government unless its leader, Naftali Bennett, is given the defense post.
“It is not necessary to go to elections at this sensitive time for security. The government can complete its days,” said Yonatan Orich, a media adviser to Mr. Netanyahu. The defense portfolio will pass to Mr. Netanyahu straight away, Mr. Orich added. Mr. Netanyahu is already in charge of the foreign and health ministries as well as being premier.
Mr. Lieberman, the outgoing defense minister, has long disagreed with Mr. Netanyahu’s response to months of flare ups with Gaza and clashed with the prime minister on how to address Islamist group Hamas’s hold on the Strip.
The group launched nearly 500 projectiles in response to Sunday’s bungled Israeli intelligence mission. Israel in turn targeted at least 160 sites in Gaza before the truce was reached.
While the pause in firing has restored a fragile calm, it has faced widespread public criticism. On Tuesday evening, residents in the Israeli towns of Sderot and Nir Am blocked roads and burned tires to protest the cease-fire. They called the move weak and part of a continuing cycle of violence that disrupts life and drives them to shelters every several weeks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends an annual state memorial ceremony for Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, at his gravesite in Sde Boker Israel on Nov. 14.
PHOTO: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS
Protests in Sderot continued on Wednesday evening, and there are also demonstrations planned in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
“In times of emergency, in times of fateful security decisions, [a leader] cannot always share with the public the crucial considerations that must be kept hidden from the enemy,” said Mr. Netanyahu in a statement released while visiting the grave of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion. “In times like these, leadership does not mean doing the easy thing. Leadership means to do the right thing, even if it’s difficult.”
Mr. Lieberman’s move marks the opening salvo of a campaign season that Mr. Netanyahu was trying to postpone, at least for a little while, analysts said.
Under Israeli law, elections must happen by November 2019. But the prime minister can dissolve the government ahead of that and trigger elections within 60 to 90 days.
Police have recommended Mr. Netanyahu be charged with criminal bribery, fraud and breach of trust in two corruption probes, but it is up to the attorney general to decide whether to bring charges.
“The assumption was Bibi wants early elections to win before the indictments, but Gaza was always a problem. To get to early elections Bibi had to get Gaza off the table,” said Anshel Pfeffer, the author of “Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu,” which came out earlier this year. Bibi is a nickname for the prime minister.
Mr. Netanyahu, he said, doesn’t want the elections to be about Gaza, which has presented him with a series of policy choices, all of which open him up to attack whichever path he takes.
“What Lieberman has done now is basically started the campaign and made it all about Gaza,” Mr. Pfeffer said. Both Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Netanyahu are competing for right-wing votes.
Under Israel’s political system, however, it’s unlikely another candidate will emerge to challenge Mr. Netanyahu. People vote for a party rather than a leader, and the party that wins a majority receives a presidential mandate to form a governing coalition supported by a parliamentary majority.
Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party is the single largest party with 30 seats in the Knesset.
“Structurally really there’s only room for someone to be prime minister within a large party. So that doesn’t leave a lot of candidates, that leaves Netanyahu and whoever is on the left,” said Mitchell Barak, a political analyst and director at Jerusalem-based Keevoon Global Research.
Hamas, meanwhile, hailed the defense minister’s resignation as a political victory.
“The resignation of Lieberman is a recognition of defeat and the inability to confront the Palestinian resistance. It is a political victory for Gaza, which succeeded with its steadfastness to bring about a political shake-up in occupations arena,” said Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri.
Corrections & Amplifications
On Tuesday evening, residents in the Israeli towns of Sderot and Nir Am blocked roads to protest the cease-fire. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that they did so on Monday evening. (Nov. 14)
Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com
Ameshauri uteuzi ufanyike mapema, ili kunusuru Hali ya sasa ya sintofahamu!!
====
Israeli Defense Minister Resigns, Threatening Netanyahu’s Grip on Power
Avigdor Lieberman has long disagreed with the Israeli prime minister’s response to months of flare ups with Gaza
Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman announces his intention to resign in his office at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Nov. 14. PHOTO:MENAHEM KAHANA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
TEL AVIV—Israel’s defense minister announced his intention to resign and withdraw his party from the ruling coalition Wednesday, a move that weakens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hold on power and could pressure him to call for early elections.
Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the right-leaning Yisrael Beiteinu party as well as defense minister, said he disagreed with a cease-fire reached between Israel and militant groups in Gaza, describing it as a “capitulation to terrorism.”
Israel and Hamas reached a truce Tuesday evening, after Hamas fired a record number of rockets and mortars into Israel over 24 hours. The attacks were in response to a botched Israeli intelligence-gathering mission that left seven Palestinian militants and one Israeli military officer dead in Gaza on Sunday.
Mr. Lieberman also called for early elections as he said his party would leave the current coalition. The exit of the hawkish party won’t automatically cause Mr. Netanyahu’s government to collapse, but reduces his coalition’s seats to 61 from 66 in the 120-seat Israeli parliament, or Knesset. Further attrition could spur other Knesset members to call for a vote of no confidence and trigger early elections.
Following Mr. Lieberman’s announcement, the Jewish Home party threatened to leave the government unless its leader, Naftali Bennett, is given the defense post.
“It is not necessary to go to elections at this sensitive time for security. The government can complete its days,” said Yonatan Orich, a media adviser to Mr. Netanyahu. The defense portfolio will pass to Mr. Netanyahu straight away, Mr. Orich added. Mr. Netanyahu is already in charge of the foreign and health ministries as well as being premier.
Mr. Lieberman, the outgoing defense minister, has long disagreed with Mr. Netanyahu’s response to months of flare ups with Gaza and clashed with the prime minister on how to address Islamist group Hamas’s hold on the Strip.
The group launched nearly 500 projectiles in response to Sunday’s bungled Israeli intelligence mission. Israel in turn targeted at least 160 sites in Gaza before the truce was reached.
While the pause in firing has restored a fragile calm, it has faced widespread public criticism. On Tuesday evening, residents in the Israeli towns of Sderot and Nir Am blocked roads and burned tires to protest the cease-fire. They called the move weak and part of a continuing cycle of violence that disrupts life and drives them to shelters every several weeks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends an annual state memorial ceremony for Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, at his gravesite in Sde Boker Israel on Nov. 14.
PHOTO: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS
Protests in Sderot continued on Wednesday evening, and there are also demonstrations planned in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
“In times of emergency, in times of fateful security decisions, [a leader] cannot always share with the public the crucial considerations that must be kept hidden from the enemy,” said Mr. Netanyahu in a statement released while visiting the grave of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion. “In times like these, leadership does not mean doing the easy thing. Leadership means to do the right thing, even if it’s difficult.”
Mr. Lieberman’s move marks the opening salvo of a campaign season that Mr. Netanyahu was trying to postpone, at least for a little while, analysts said.
Under Israeli law, elections must happen by November 2019. But the prime minister can dissolve the government ahead of that and trigger elections within 60 to 90 days.
Police have recommended Mr. Netanyahu be charged with criminal bribery, fraud and breach of trust in two corruption probes, but it is up to the attorney general to decide whether to bring charges.
“The assumption was Bibi wants early elections to win before the indictments, but Gaza was always a problem. To get to early elections Bibi had to get Gaza off the table,” said Anshel Pfeffer, the author of “Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu,” which came out earlier this year. Bibi is a nickname for the prime minister.
Mr. Netanyahu, he said, doesn’t want the elections to be about Gaza, which has presented him with a series of policy choices, all of which open him up to attack whichever path he takes.
“What Lieberman has done now is basically started the campaign and made it all about Gaza,” Mr. Pfeffer said. Both Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Netanyahu are competing for right-wing votes.
Under Israel’s political system, however, it’s unlikely another candidate will emerge to challenge Mr. Netanyahu. People vote for a party rather than a leader, and the party that wins a majority receives a presidential mandate to form a governing coalition supported by a parliamentary majority.
Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party is the single largest party with 30 seats in the Knesset.
“Structurally really there’s only room for someone to be prime minister within a large party. So that doesn’t leave a lot of candidates, that leaves Netanyahu and whoever is on the left,” said Mitchell Barak, a political analyst and director at Jerusalem-based Keevoon Global Research.
Hamas, meanwhile, hailed the defense minister’s resignation as a political victory.
“The resignation of Lieberman is a recognition of defeat and the inability to confront the Palestinian resistance. It is a political victory for Gaza, which succeeded with its steadfastness to bring about a political shake-up in occupations arena,” said Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri.
Corrections & Amplifications
On Tuesday evening, residents in the Israeli towns of Sderot and Nir Am blocked roads to protest the cease-fire. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that they did so on Monday evening. (Nov. 14)
Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com
