Lieberman’s resignation not a “victory” for Gaza but a warning of the worst to come

By Whitney Webb

In the wake of Lieberman’s resignation the high probability of a Naftali Bennett-led Israeli War Ministry would unleash a new, even more brutal wave of extrajudicial murders of unarmed Palestinians, one that would deliberately target children, says Chile-based journalist Whitney Webb.

Now we read her opinion published by MintPress in an article titled: “Lieberman’s resignation not a “victory” for Gaza but a warning of the worst to come.”

A wave of instability now threatens the Zionist regime following the sudden resignation of War Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday. Lieberman announced that he was resigning in protest of a recently brokered ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since winning elections in 2007. Zionist Premier Benjamin Netanyahu will serve as interim War Minister until an official replacement is appointed. Netanyahu also currently serves as the Zionist War Minister and Health Minister.

The still-developing situation will likely result in a rightward shift within the Israeli Knesset or the current ruling coalition, as Netanyahu is set to seek stability following Lieberman’s resignation by either placating right-wing elements unhappy with the ceasefire or by moving forward with snap elections that would Likely see more extremist politicians elected to Israel’s legislature as a reaction to the ceasefire and Lieberman’s abrupt resignation.

The warmongering Lieberman resigned in protest to the halt in the Zionist attacks on Gaza, following a ceasefire with Hamas brokered by Egypt. He also announced that his political party, Yisrael Beytenu, will be withdrawing from the Zionist regime’s ruling coalition – which is led by Netanyahu’s Likud Party — in protest of the ceasefire.

The recent hostilities between the Zionists and Gaza began following a covert Israeli military raid on the Hamas leadership on Sunday night, which martyred seven Palestinians and killed one Israeli. In retaliation, the Gazans launched an estimated 300 rockets on Zionist positions. Israel’s military responded with heavy airstrikes that targeted densely populated areas of Gaza and razed one of the enclave’s TV stations among other civilian targets.

Child-killer Benjamin Netanyahu, although agreeing to ceasefire, hinted that he would consider a large-scale offensive targeting Gaza in the future.

Netanyahu’s reluctance for a large-scale military conflict targeting Gaza at this time is likely due to the fact that the Trump administration’s so-called “peace plan” aimed at “resolving” the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is set to be debuted before the year’s end.

That so-called “peace plan” — largely the work of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is well known for his fervent support for Zionism and illegal West Bank settlements — is set to provide Israel with the political cushion to pursue its ambitions. These include the Zionist regime’s ambition to annex the occupied West Bank in its entirety and to curb Palestinian demands for the return of Palestinian refugees, actual autonomy for Palestinians living in the occupied territories, and the end of the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.

However, a major war with Gaza would sour the Zionist regime’s standing just as the new Israel-centric “peace plan” is set to be revealed. Yet, if the Zionist regime waits until the plan is revealed and triggers the protests in Gaza and elsewhere that are all but guaranteed to ensue, a subsequent military operation to quell unrest resulting from the push to implement the Kushner-drafted plan would be easier for Israel to defend on the international stage.

While Lieberman’s resignation has been touted by Hamas as a “political victory for Gaza,” his likely successor bodes to be even more hawkish and supportive of the extrajudicial murder of Palestinians. Indeed, Lieberman’s most likely replacement is current Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who recently threatened to withdraw the political party he leads, Jewish Home, from the Likud-led ruling coalition if he is not appointed as the next war minister.

With Lieberman’s party already withdrawing from Israel’s far-right coalition, Netanyahu will likely capitulate to Bennett’s demands in order to stabilize the current government and avoid dissolving the Knesset and subsequent snap elections. Thus, the current instability facing the Likud-led coalition now seems fated to result in a rightward surge, whether it’s through snap elections or through Netanyahu-led efforts to placate other right-wing parties and prevent them from defecting.

Other powerful politicians within Jewish Home, such as Uri Ariel, have also pushed for Bennett to be appointed. Ariel told Israeli media outlet Arutz Sheva:

Netanyahu should appoint Minister Bennett as war minister and this cabinet can continue to function.

Over the past year, Bennett has repeatedly accused Lieberman of showing “restraint and weakness” as war minister, especially in relation to his approach to Gaza’s Great Return March.

Accusing Lieberman of “weakness” is particularly shocking given that the Israeli military under Lieberman repeatedly used lethal force to quell protests in Gaza, killing over 200 unarmed Palestinians – including children, medics and journalists – and wounding over 22,000.

In addition, Bennett has frequently called to “loosen” the Israeli military’s rules of engagement that would allow Zionist soldiers to target unarmed Palestinian children with lethal force. This past July, Bennett called for Israeli warplanes to drop bombs on the heads of Palestinian children who flew crude, homemade incendiary kites into occupied territories with Bennett shamelessly saying “there is no legal impediment” for targeting children with lethal force.

During a meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet that took place that same month, Bennett had stated “Why shoot next to them [children] and not directly at them?”

More recently, in October, Bennett told Israel’s Army Radio that if he were war minister he would approve a “shoot to kill” policy for all Gazans, including children.

Thus, if Bennett is appointed as Lieberman’s replacement, it becomes near impossible to argue that Lieberman’s resignation is a “political victory” for Gazans. Instead, the high probability of a Bennett-led War Ministry would unleash a new, even more brutal wave of extrajudicial murders of unarmed Palestinians, one that would deliberately target children.

Furthermore, given that Netanyahu’s recent hints that the current ceasefire is meant only to delay Israel’s next war with Gaza until such a conflict is more politically expedient for Israel, Bennett’s likely ascent to the role of War Minister would herald an even more disastrous war for Gazan civilians than one overseen by Lieberman.