Liberman says Israel must take tougher stance on Hezbollah attacks

Yisrael Beytenu party head Avigdor Liberman says the government needs to take a stronger hand against Hezbollah attacks in the north, saying Israel’s current controlled response policy is insufficient.

“We have to change the policy. We can’t only respond,” Liberman says at the outset of his Knesset faction meeting, arguing that the war cabinet’s thinking is obsolete.

“I hope that no one plans to swallow fire from Yemen by Houthis toward Israel,” Liberman adds

The hawkish opposition party head also attacks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a “failed” Gaza policy. He likens Netanyahu’s past strategy of using economic incentives to keep Hamas’s hostilities in check to the UK’s failed appeasement strategy towards Nazi expansionism.

Liberman points to then-UK prime minister Neville Chamberlain passing leadership to Winston Churchill, and says he expects Netanyahu to resign. Liberman says that instead of taking responsibility for the failed strategy, Netanyahu is trying “to roll responsibility onto someone else.”