Avigdor Liberman
Avigdor LibermanYonatan Sindel/Flash90

In a conversation with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News, the former Minister of Defense and chairman of Yisrael Beytenu, MK Avigdor Liberman, points to Hamas as the main factor behind the latest wave of terror attacks and firmly asserts: "A military operation alone is not enough. We need to cut off the snake's head."

Liberman argues: "This is a government of losers that has lost its direction. Both in the fight against terror and organized crime. The main problem is Benjamin Netanyahu, who since 2018 has adopted the strategy of bowing to terrorism and Hamas. After all, in the last wave of terror, Hamas is organizing and carrying out the attacks. They are running the attacks from Gaza. The other side of the coin is Saleh al-Aaruri, who is in charge of the activities of the military arm of Hamas in Judea and Samaria."

"Tens of millions of dollars are being transferred to Hamas terrorists and Netanyahu is granting them immunity. They welcome the murder of Jews, realizing that Netanyahu will not touch them. If you want to fight terrorism, you have to strike the snake in the head - those who give the orders, transfer money and support the terror. The address is clear and it is Hamas and the Gaza Strip."

MK Liberman was asked if Iran was behind the latest spade of attacks or the doing of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, to which he replied: "The Megiddo Junction attack was carried out by Hezbollah," he pointed out. "A terrorist infiltrated Israel with the support of Iran who always backs our enemies. But Hamas is the one directly behind the attacks. They know how to transfer money to their operatives in the Palestinian Authority. Abbas controls neither Ramallah nor his own street. He is there because of Netanyahu and there is no reason he should still be heading the PA. Hamas has already deeply penetrated Fatah in Judea and Samaria. Abbas is powerless to do anything."

Liberman also explained the difference between elements of Palestinian Arab terror and said: Abbas leads the political terror whether it's condemnations of Israel in the international community or filing complaints against IDF soldiers at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, but Netanyahu continues to view him as the source of power. Hamas is the one behind the terror of murder."

The former defense minister claimed: "First of all, a policy of targeted assassinations of Hamas leaders should be adopted. Without this, it won't get better. As long as they know they can get away with it, there is no way to stop this terror wave. They understand that as long as there is no threat to them on a personal level, nothing will change. They don't care about all kinds of small fish we catch."

Asked if the government should launch an extensive military operation in Judea and Samaria, Liberman said: "It is necessary, but there is no point in a large military operation without targeted assassinations of those behind the terror. A mere military operation in Judea and Samaria is not enough. Without bringing down their leadership and blocking the flow of money to the Gaza Strip, which of course does not reach the poor but goes directly towards Hamas' power building, (they are developing advanced weapons as we recently saw when the IDF shot down two drones headed for Israel) there will be no change."

At the end, MK Liberman was asked if he welcomes the Belz Hasidic initiative to introduce core studies to religious schools, and replied: "First of all, yes. I reached an agreement with them as Minister of Finance and they were supposed to receive a lot of money in exchange for full core studies. Unfortunately, the current prime minister torpedoed the move, telling them that there is no need for core studies."

"There is no doubt that core studies are a must, and when it's up to me there won't be a single school in the country without core studies," he exclaimed. "The move is welcome and I was the one who initiated and led it. Also on the subject of the sugar and sweet drinks tax, they (the current government) ended up reaching the same conclusions, but everything they do is too little, too late. There is a lot to discuss but the most important figure that needs to be looked at and reflects the situation is the high exchange rate for the US dollar, and I haven't even gotten to the sharp drop in investments."