Liberman: Government is politicizing the IDF while failing to defeat Hamas, Hezbollah

Yisrael Beytenu chair MK Avigdor Liberman accuses the government of failing to fully defeat Hamas and Hezbollah while also politicizing the army.

Despite two years of war and a claimed “total victory,” Israel today faces “an open front in Gaza and in Lebanon” as well as one in Iran, Liberman tells reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.

“The strengthening of Hezbollah and Hamas is greater than the damage we are inflicting on them. They are becoming stronger than ever,” he says, referring to recent IDF strikes against the two terrorist groups.

Beyond the current military challenges, Israelis now also find themselves faced with a “new front” in the form of a conflict between Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, he continues.

Katz in recent months has been fighting an escalating campaign against the chief of the Israel Defense Forces by selectively promoting officers and denying the appointments of others with whom he apparently does not see eye to eye.

Today Katz ordered the defense establishment comptroller to re-evaluate the findings made by an external panel of former senior officers, and accepted by Zamir, that looked into the IDF’s October 7, 2023, investigations.

This “madness” is “dangerous” and the “only way to reach the truth is a state commission of inquiry” that will investigate “absolutely everyone,” says Liberman, calling on those in the coalition “who feel a minimal sense of responsibility” to “stand up and support the establishment” of such a probe.

“There is another message that emerges from this event, and that is the politicization of the army. People no longer advance based on abilities and professional skills, but according to connections. They advance based on how close they are and on who is more of a ‘yes man.’ Politicization will destroy the army,” Liberman alleges.