Lieberman: We Will Have an Upgraded Hizbullah in Gaza

 
Source: Al-Manar TV, 20-01-2009

In an interview with "Israeli" daily Haaretz with Avigdor Lieberman, the right-wing Knesset member said that the strategic objective of the "Israeli" offensive in the Gaza Strip should have been the collapse of the Islamic resistance movement of Hamas. "This goal could have been reached not by capturing Gaza and Jabalya, but [simply] by taking over the crossing points and the Philadelphi route. There are enough forces in Gaza that could serve as an alternative to Hamas. When Hamas is dominant, those forces are silent. But if we had closed the Strip in a vice, we would have strangled Hamas," Lieberman said.

He added that after the cease-fire, everyone wants to know how it could be that the so-called "strongest army in the Middle East" was unable to overcome 12,000 fighters. Lieberman said that the result was similar to that of "the Second Lebanon War: damage to our deterrent capability.

Instead of destroying Hamas, the operation upgraded it, turning it into an important regional player. It's only a matter of time before the government in Ramallah collapses and falls into Hamas hands. Within a year, we'll have an upgraded Hizbullah in Gaza, not a weak Hamas. That Hizbullah will have hundreds of rockets that reach central Tel Aviv. Ultimately, rockets will hit the Kirya [government complex] and Azrieli [towers]."

Asked whether he expects another conflict within the year, Lieberman said, "Without a shadow of a doubt. I think Hamas will aim for a time when it has instruments that will reach Ben-Gurion airport, the Kirya and Dimona."
Lieberman To Arab Mk: We'll Deal With You Like We Dealt With Hamas
Meanwhile, a heated confrontation erupted Tuesday morning between Lieberman and an Arab Knesset member before the start of a Supreme Court hearing on an appeal filed by two Arab parties against the decision to bar them from running in the upcoming elections.

MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List-Ta'al) called out towards Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Lieberman, "Get the hell out of here." Lieberman replied, "You're a terrorist representing terrorists. We'll deal with you like with any other terrorist, like we dealt with Hamas."

Lieberman told reporters, "This is discussion for the purpose of setting a policy. This is the first time we examine the border between loyalty and disloyalty. Do we wish to give someone a license to kill the state of "Israel" as a Jewish and Zionist state? "The court should not have intervened in this issue from the start. This is a clash between the legislative authority and the judiciary."

MK El-Sana lashed out at him, saying, "You are a new immigrant, you can't even speak Hebrew, and you're constantly inciting. You come here to gain votes at the expense of the Arab public. You are an enemy of the state."
At this point MK Ahmad Tibi walked in, and Lieberman said, "Here's another clown, another terrorist."

Tibi called out, "There are fascist immigrants here who want to deprive the Arabs of their right to live and be presented. We were here before you. You immigrated here and want to throw us out of here. You are dancing on the blood of Palestinian children and seeking to terminate the political leadership of ‘Israel's' Arabs."

MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beitrinu) joined the heated discussion and called out towards Tibi, "Go back to Damascus, you're a terrorist. What have you ever done for the ‘Israeli' Arabs? You are (former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser) Arafat's chief assistant."

Tibi responded, "We own this land, not you. Your message is to destroy and expel."
Liberman concluded by saying, "If a decision isn't made, the next Knesset will have to enact a clear law setting the limits to disloyalty and maintaining an option to revoke the citizenship of that wing of terror organizations which exists in the Knesset today."

The 500-page appeal was field Monday with the court by Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in "Israel". The appeal, filed by Attorney Hassan Jabrin and Orna Cohen, claims that the Elections Committee's decision to disqualify the two parties "violated the rules of natural justice and ignored the opinion of the attorney general, which stated that there is no evidence justifying preventing the two lists from taking part in the Knesset elections."