“First, I want to clarify to the heads of Hamas in Gaza, no one is deterred by escalation or by a broad confrontation,” Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said at a Yisrael Beitenu faction meeting.

According to a report in the daily Maariv on Tuesday, 27 Tammuz, the tensions between Lieberman and the heads of the defense establishment was revealed. Journalist Ben Caspit claims that the defense minister is trying to draw more severe responses against the kite terror from Gaza, while the heads of the IDF and other security forces are interested in containing the crisis in the south and finding a solution in a non-military way.

“We are not looking for confrontations or military adventures,” Lieberman said, but clarified that “In the way Hamas is going, it is simply deteriorating and may pay the full price, a much heavier price than during Operation Protective Edge. This reality, which burns natural woodland and fields daily, and so far, burned about 28 thousand dunam (7,000 acres) that is more or less the territory of the Municipality of Netanya or the municipality of Rehovot, and we do not intend to absorb it and do not intend to continue in this manner.”

In contrast to the hawkish position of the minister, which is very similar to what the chairman of Bayit Yehudi, Naftali Bennett, said at the top echelon of the IDF and other security organizations according to the report. “We do not go to war because of kites and we must avoid a large-scale military operation. At the same time, efforts must be continued to find technological solutions for the kite and firebombs.” In his column, the journalist wrote that the dispute between the parties reached high and shrill tones.

According to Lieberman, postponing the confrontation and the attempts to contain the current situation in the south will only increase Hamas’ terrorist activities, erode Israeli deterrence, and ultimately Israel will pay a high price in the future in the form of a military action that could have been avoided.

On Monday, 26 Tammuz, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced the decision to close the Kerem Shalom Crossing for the transfer of goods to Gaza in response to the terror of kites and the burning of fields in the Gaza vicinity. While some believe that this step is an expression of the defense minister’s approach, the IDF has announced that the move was made on the advice and recommendation of the IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott.

Lieberman, for his part, claimed that in Gaza “they will begin to feel that this will not work unilaterally and that if someone thinks that he can get far-reaching concessions there without solving the issue of prisoners and missing soldiers, it will not happen.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)