Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) slammed Education Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday for Bennett’s statements in the wake of Israel’s attack yesterday on a terror-tunnel network that infiltrated Israeli sovereign territory near Gaza.
At least seven terrorists were killed when the IDF Southern Command destroyed the network, found near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Monday afternoon.
Subsequently, an IDF spokesperson issued a statement ‘clarifying’ that Israel had not intended to kill the terrorists, but was merely seeking to remove the threat posed by the terror tunnel.
“This was a defensive action against a violation of [Israeli] sovereignty. The explosion was meant to destroy [the tunnel] and put it out of operation.”
Bennett appeared to rebuke the spokesperson for the tone of the response, arguing that Israel has every right to eliminate terrorists threatening its civilians and soldiers.
“The IDF succeeded yesterday in eliminating terrorists involved in digging tunnels to be used [in operations] to kill Israeli women and children,” Bennett said on Monday. “We must not apologize for eliminating terrorists.”
In response, Liberman called Bennett’s statements a “blatant attack on the IDF and its commanders.”
“An update from the IDF spokesperson must not serve as an excuse to blatantly attack the IDF and its commanders. Expressions of this nature manifest serious harm to the security of Israel and the entire IDF,” Liberman said.
“We will act with determination, power, and responsibility for the security of the citizens of Israel,” he emphasized.