“Lieberman’s document” undermines the “remnants of trust” in Netanyahu

Nazeer Magali

The Prime Minister and army commanders warned in 2016 of a war being prepared by Hamas.

After the publication of the document prepared by Avigdor Lieberman, when he was Defense Minister in 2016, in which he clearly warned of the danger of an attack that might be launched by the Hamas movement, just as happened on October 7, 3 weeks ago, the demands for the resignation or dismissal of the Prime Minister expanded. , Benjamin Netanyahu.

Lieberman said that this document should be “the last exhausting blow to the prime minister, who is reeling with weakened forces.” But Netanyahu does not give up so easily, and is also seeking to overcome this crisis. Officials, experts, and the press are heading to his party (Likud) to recruit 5 representatives who agree to overthrow him.

Lieberman had chosen the appropriate timing (Monday) for his part, and said: “We failed to overthrow him when a corruption indictment was brought against him in 2020, and we failed during the past ten months after he came up with a coup plan against the ruling system and the judiciary, and we failed even when it swept ( Hamas) Israel, occupied 22 villages and 11 military barracks, and it is inconceivable that we will also fail this time.”

A demonstration raising the slogan of Israeli democracy in Tel Aviv last June (Reuters)

The man (i.e. Netanyahu) proves that “what worries him is not the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have been conscripted into the reserve, nor the prisoners held by (Hamas), nor the millions of Israelis and Jews who are worried about their relatives and loved ones. Rather, he is busy exonerating himself from the charge of failing to confront the (Hamas) attack.” “And how will he be able to keep the fire away from his face and direct it to others, and not care about directing arrows towards the heads of the army and intelligence, while they are fighting in Gaza,” according to Lieberman, who considers this an unforgivable crime? Therefore, he revealed the document related to Hamas’ war plans.

According to the document, which was classified as “top secret,” Lieberman, when he was defense minister in Netanyahu’s government, addressed him with an 11-page detailed memorandum explaining in detail that “Hamas” had become an ambitious military force planning an attack whose goal was “to eliminate Israel until 2022.” And liberate all the lands of Palestine.”

The document, published by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Monday, states that “Hamas intends to transfer the upcoming confrontation to Israeli territory, by pumping large and well-trained forces, such as elite forces, into Israeli territory, and occupying an Israeli town, and perhaps several towns.” “In addition to targeting them physically, this will lead to a severe targeting of the awareness and morale of the citizens of Israel.”

Eliminate Israel

The document stated that “Hamas has set for itself an explicit goal, which is to eliminate Israel until 2022.” During a series of deliberations within the framework of the movement’s (Executive Committee) meetings that were held in Qatar on September 25-27, 2016, it explained that it needed a “calm-down period” in order to complete building its strength and readiness.”

According to the document dating back to 2016, “Hamas is interested in making the next war against Israel multi-front, by building other fronts in addition to the Gaza Strip - Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Sinai - and even against Jewish targets around the world.” She added that “Hamas is seeking to expand the ranks of its fighters to 40,000 activists by 2020, and strengthening its strength will be in the ground combat system,” and that “in the wake of its growing economic distress, the movement has requested assistance from Iran in the amount of 50-60 million dollars.”

Lieberman’s document stated, “The defensive obstacle that the Israeli army is building along the border with Gaza, and with all its means and capabilities, is an important element in the current security strategy vis-à-vis Gaza, but it cannot constitute a strategy in and of itself. Contemporary history and past precedents – the Maginot Line, the Mannerheim Line and the Bar Lev Line – have proven that walls and fortifications do not prevent war and are no guarantee of tranquility and security.” The document continued: “If Israel waits until it achieves intelligence control and erects a security wall, all of this superiority will be completely reduced in exchange for the increase in the strength of (Hamas) during this period.”

A demonstration raising the slogan of Israeli democracy in Tel Aviv last June (Reuters)

The document concluded that “not taking an Israeli initiative until mid-2017 would be a serious mistake that would lead Israel into a difficult strategic situation, and that would lead to an unplanned deterioration, and while in a scenario like this Israel would not be able to assassinate the leadership of the arm.” militarily for (Hamas), or worse - for (Hamas) to open a confrontation at a time convenient for it.” “I believe that the consequences of such an operation by (Hamas) would be far-reaching, and in certain respects the consequences would be more severe than the results of the Yom Kippur War (October 1973),” Lieberman wrote in the memo.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said, “It is quite clear that Lieberman predicted the Hamas attack on October 7, and based this on accurate information, he developed a scenario that was proven to be amazingly correct,” but “Netanyahu failed and did not take the warning seriously, and instead He began to run a policy that granted Hamas all the necessary time and money worth hundreds of millions of dollars to implement its plan.”

Netanyahu during a visit to the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip border this month (his account on the X platform)

The newspaper added, “None of the officials who saw this document treated it seriously, including the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army at the time, Gadi Eisenkot, but it placed the primary responsibility on Netanyahu in his capacity as Prime Minister, which in Israel is considered the Supreme Commander.” For the army, it is above and more important than the Chief of Staff.”

The Hebrew newspaper pointed out that “Lieberman resigned from his position as Minister of Defense at the end of 2018, and justified this by Israel’s agreement to a ceasefire with Hamas, and to bring financial aid from Qatar to the Gaza Strip in the amount of $15 million per month.”

The document put Netanyahu in the dock as someone who bears first responsibility before everyone else and more than anyone else for the Hamas attack. She commented: “In a normal state, Netanyahu would have appeared in public and announced his resignation. But Israel is not that country, and Netanyahu is not that responsible leader; Firstly, he remained silent and neither he nor his office commented on Lieberman’s document. Therefore, the newspaper launched a call for him to resign or be fired. Is this possible?

Chances of dismissing Netanyahu

The Israeli Prime Minister currently enjoys a majority of 64 seats in the Knesset out of a total of 120. The only way to get rid of him, if he does not become independent himself, is for 5 representatives from the coalition to decide to drop him in a no-confidence motion. The greatest scope for such development is for those from the Likud Party, as the “Religious Zionism” bloc led by Bezalil Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir will not take such a step, nor will other religious parties such as the Haredim.

In Likud, there are 32 deputies, most of whom are loyal to Netanyahu personally, but there are more than 5 deputies among them who oppose Netanyahu’s policy, and are under pressure from some public and political circles to take such a step, but they are still hesitating. They know that Netanyahu is ready to massacre them, especially since if elections are held soon, the right will lose power, will receive a devastating blow, and will be considered traitors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Knesset session last March (AP)

But political circles are trying to convince them of a road map that opens up hope for saving Likud, and they say: “You dismiss Netanyahu and hand over power to one of your leaders by choice, and this will be an opportunity to get rid of Netanyahu’s burden without losing power. Such as an interim leader being elected, who runs the war and then announces an investigation committee into the failures, and after 6 months, 9 months, or a year, elections are held and you are in a better position.”

The proposal is that the Minister of Energy, Israel Katz, or the Minister of Economy, Nir Barkat, assume the presidency of the government instead of Netanyahu, but Katz does not accept Barkat and Barkat does not accept Katz, so they propose that Yoav Galant, the Minister of Defense, assume the presidency of the government now, and be his deputy and minister. For defense, Benny Gantz, in order to preserve unity, and Lieberman will join the coalition and become Minister of National Security or even Defense, and Yair Lapid will be Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The important thing is that revealing the document opens the door more to pressure for Netanyahu’s resignation or dismissal, as he is today in the worst position in his political history, and is seen as a weak and flabby prime minister who considers his chair a sacred icon more important than anything. However, the problem is that no one from his camp yet dares to challenge this, and war does not help in waging a political battle like this, and the hope among his opponents is that many circles on the right have begun to put forward the idea of getting rid of him and consider it a good start.

Source: Agencies