A key coalition ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday harshly criticized any deal for a long-term ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip, adding that ministers in his party will oppose it.
An Israeli official told the Los Angeles Times Monday night that a deal with the terror group that rules the Strip is “virtually done.”
Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett’s office said: “In light of the agreement being forged between Israel and Hamas, (Bennett) announced tonight that the Jewish Home Party would oppose an agreement based on a temporary calm.”
Bennett also lambasted Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s earlier announcement that Israel would reopen a major goods crossing into Gaza and extend the Strip’s permitted fishing zone on Wednesday should the calm hold.
“Liberman’s gestures to Hamas are a mistake,” Bennett said, adding that his party would “oppose an agreement based on a temporary calm, which would allow Hamas to rearm and regroup for the next round of terror.
“This ‘quiet’ will give Hamas total immunity to replenish tens of thousands of rockets threatening all parts of the country, and allow it to open war against Israel whenever it is most convenient to them,” he said. “This will ultimately lead to battles on two highly dangerous fronts, in the north and in the south, at a time determined by the enemy and on its terms.
“After 130 days under attack and rocket fire, we must not reward the terrorists without the return of our captives and our fallen soldiers,” Bennett charged. “The terrorists will learn that terror pays, and Israel’s deterrence will be harmed.”
Two civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, are believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza along with the bodies of soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, killed during the 2014 Gaza war.
Bennett’s comments were swiftly condemned by Liberman’s party, which called the remarks “empty slogans.”
Yisrael Beytenu party said: “As always, Minister Bennett rushes to the press with empty slogans which are no more than petty politics at the expense of the IDF and the security establishment.”
Taking a jab at the education minister, the statement added that “it would be better for him to concern himself with the rising violence at schools.”
The defense minister said the planned easing of restrictions in Gaza was meant to be a sign to Palestinians in the Strip that “maintaining the quiet is first and foremost in the interest of Gaza residents.”
Jerusalem has officially been mum on the talks with Hamas, an Islamist terrorist group which seized control of the Strip in 2007 and seeks to destroy Israel.
Israeli officials have reportedly sought to include the return of civilian captives and remains of soldiers being held in Gaza as part of the deal, but Hamas is said to be seeking to leave that issue out of a potential truce and only commit to discussing it in a second round of talks.
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