From the Liveblog of
Monday, December 16, 2024
Liberman says government pushing country toward civil war
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is leading Israel “into a civil war,” hawkish opposition politician Avigdor Liberman alleges during his Yisrael Beytenu party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
“It is impossible to attack the Houthis in Yemen, to attack Iran, and at the same time to attack the Supreme Court and the attorney general,” Liberman tells reporters. lamenting that despite ongoing fighting in Gaza and the unstable situation in Syria and the West Bank the government is still advancing efforts to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from military service.
The leaders of Netanyahu’s coalition are currently pushing to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and revive the government’s frozen judicial overhaul program.
“This government has consciously decided to lead us into a civil war. Such a situation, in terms of the disintegration of Israeli society and internal tension, has never existed before,” he continues.
He also demands an end to anti-government protesters’ calls for insubordination.
“It is imperative to keep the IDF away from all political and ideological debates,” he says.
Liberman’s statement comes after ex-state attorney Moshe Lador encouraged Israeli Air Force pilots on Saturday to stop volunteering for reserve duty if the government revives its highly contentious judicial overhaul. Shortly thereafter, former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said that even Haredi men who are not studying in yeshiva should not serve in the Israel Defense Forces.
The Times of Israel Community.