While Bennett accused Liberman of countering Hamas with a “weak and leftist” policy, the defense minister referred to the right as “delirious, lunatic and messianic.”
By: TPS and World Israel News Staff
The Education and Defense ministers, Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman, have been exchanging insults as of late, with the former accusing the defense apparatus of not taking a strong enough stance against threats emanating from Gaza, and the latter accusing Bennett of being irresponsible and messianic.
On Tuesday, Bennett claimed Liberman is pursuing a “leftist” policy with regard to the Gaza Strip.
“Liberman’s policy towards Hamas is weak and leftist,” said Bennett, adding that he is “dragging the whole government to the left.”
Liberman, however, had his own fighting words for Bennett.
“The Education Minister is not saying a single word about education, so it’s clear that he does not care – not about education or about defense,” Liberman said about Bennett.
Liberman continued, “There is a real argument here, which will accompany the coming [elections], between the delirious, lunatic and messianic right, and a responsible right. The question is, do we want a Jewish state, or a binational state. Bennett and Smotritch have been preaching for a binational state for years.”
Bennett and Liberman’s argument relates to Israel’s approach to the ongoing unrest emanating from the Gaza Strip, which includes a Hamas-orchestrated campaign of violent rioting on the border and airborne arson attacks using kites and balloons to deliver incendiary devices that have burned thousands of acres of Israeli farmland and nature preserves.
Whether or not Hamas seeks full-blown war with Israel remains to be seen, however, the terror group has thus far refused to agree to a cease-fire with the Jewish state, spurning attempts by Egypt to broker a truce.
Hamas also faces crippling sanctions from the Palestinian Authority, which was banished form the coastal enclave in a bloody coup in 2007.
In response to Hamas’ recalcitrance with regard to a fledgling Palestinian unity government, PA President Mahmoud Abbas continues to intensify economic sanctions and punitive measures on the isolated territory.