A few hours after the cease-fire between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip came to an end, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced his resignation and the withdrawal of the Yisrael Beiteinu bloc from the ruling coalition in Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu. . Despite the fact that the resignation is linked to the differences within the small security cabinet on ending the escalation and ending the aggression on the Gaza Strip, Lieberman's withdrawal is linked to the decline in his popularity among the Russian Jews, who are his party's main electoral base and expectations of a decline in his party's representation in the upcoming Knesset elections in November 2019, and the growing criticism of his performance in the Ministry of Defense, especially his inability to control the military establishment.
Containment of military escalation
The decision by the Israeli security cabinet to approve the cease-fire was surprising and unexpected in the political circles in Israel. The majority of the expectations suggested a military escalation in the Gaza Strip in response to the launching of more than 460 rockets from the Strip on southern Israel, The Israelis with the anti-tank and anti-tank missiles in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip.
In fact, the decision to accept the Egyptian mediation and commitment to calm as part of Netanyahu's attempts to contain the "unintended consequences" of the Israeli intelligence operation in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the assassination of the leader of the Qassam Brigades, "Noureddine Baraka," and the fall of seven other cadres, Post.
The operation carried out by the Israeli special forces in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip revealed the extent of the separation between the political and military levels in Israel. The sudden military breakthrough of the Gaza Strip, whose goals were not announced, coincided with statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during His participation in the events of World War I in Paris, in which he stressed that he had made every effort to "avoid unnecessary war in Gaza." Despite Hamas's likeness to "urging," he stressed that Hamas' control of the Gaza Strip imposed a preference Israel to calm down.
The timing of this operation coincides with the Israeli government's approval that Qatar will inject $ 15 million into the Gaza Strip in a financial package that Doha will transfer to Hamas, sparking protests by opposition parties in Israel, Negatively affect the process of reconciliation between the Palestinian factions, and warn of the attempt by some regional parties to strengthen the Palestinian division and try to separate Gaza from the West Bank.
Netanyahu's acceptance of the truce was only an attempt to "curb the drift" into an expanded military operation in the Gaza Strip under the pressure of the right-wing leaders in his government, especially Avigdor Lieberman, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of the Jewish Home Party, Revealed the change in the facts of the field, from the exposure of the operation of the special forces that are supposed to be secret, through the targeting of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip to sites outside the coverage of the Iron Dome system such as Ashkelon, which caused the system to address about 100 rockets only of the total 460 A rocket was launched, in addition to S Khaddam Kornet missiles to target a bus of Israeli soldiers.
These data were sufficient to convince Netanyahu that the military escalation in the Gaza Strip would not be limited in terms of time, the level of military force used in military operations, and its regional and international repercussions as a result of the condemnation and condemnation of Israeli military operations. To the recommendations of the Israeli military leaders, which recommended avoiding the continuation of military operations in the sector.
This is inseparable from the Israeli prime minister's attempt to take advantage of the presence of the armed factions in the Gaza Strip and their military strength and missile capabilities as a scarecrow to employ them in relations with the United States and Western countries to claim that Israel faces an existential threat that requires strengthening its military strength, Between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and pressure the Palestinian National Authority to make concessions as part of the century package formulated by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
The most important motive for accepting the truce is the fear of risking the fate of the ruling coalition led by Netanyahu in an incalculable military confrontation that lacks clear criteria for field victory, especially in light of the heated differences between the parties in the ruling coalition and the continuing investigations into the accusations of corruption faced by Netanyahu and some The poles of his government, and growing criticism from opposition parties.
Policy «Loss Scaling»
In contrast to what some saw as a recognition of the failure of the military operation in the Gaza Strip, Lieberman's resignation came in search of "individual salvation" to stop the political losses he had suffered since assuming the post of defense minister as a result of the political costs of the cease-fire and the successive escalation of the Council The most prominent of which was the decision to postpone the demolition of the village of "Khan al-Ahmar" in October 2018 in the east of occupied Jerusalem following the Palestinian protests, and the residents of the village against Israeli bulldozers. The most important motives for the resignation of «Lieberman» in the following:
1- Protest against the truce decision
It would have been possible for Lieberman to refrain from resigning if the decision to calm down was made in a way that would grant him some political gains by declaring his objection to the resolution despite its issuance. Netanyahu, on the other hand, sought to deprive the leaders of his government of expressing individual positions by not putting the resolution To vote in the mini-ministerial security council, but passed it by consensus without recording the votes after the recommendations of the military leaders. The announcement of the government's support of all ministers to the decision to calm by the spokesman for the Council of Ministers to provoke discontent and protest «Lieberman», which led him to resign to prove his objection to him.
2 - Separation from Netanyahu
Lieberman believes that the line-up behind Benjamin Netanyahu has caused him to pay a huge political cost because of the policies of calm and non-escalation of the Prime Minister in the Gaza Strip and the northern front in the face of Hezbollah, in addition to his objection to the rapid cessation of Israeli attacks on the sites of Iran In Syria in May 2018 following the launch of Iranian forces more than 20 rockets at Israeli targets in the Golan Heights.
The disagreement between Netanyahu and Lieberman is in the latter's attempt to lead an extended military battle in which he proves his military worth and his leadership of the Israeli army, in return for Netanyahu's keenness to achieve political gains and focus on targeted strikes, while avoiding involvement in an extensive military operation involving huge losses and large economic costs. Its field results, such as the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon,
3. The support of "Israel Our Home"
Preliminary polls on the distribution of seats in the Israeli Knesset in the upcoming elections in November 2019 revealed that Israel Beitenu will receive only between 4 and 5 seats, an extension of the decline in party seats and levels of support During the successive elections, where the party's representation decreased from 15 in 2009 to only 6 seats in the last 2015 elections.
This led some analysts to argue that Israel's home alliance with the Likud usually caused losses to the Lieberman party and that the latter's joining of the ruling coalition in May 2016 was a political mistake that would cause more losses to the party as a result of its unification with the Authority and its apprehension with Netanyahu's policy , But Lieberman was to see access to the post of Minister of Defense political opportunity will not be repeated, and will open the door for him to reach the post of prime minister in the future.
4 - restore the confidence of Russian Jews
The Yisrael Beiteinu party itself represents a representative of Israelis of Russian descent. Lieberman himself is described as one of the "new immigrants" to Israel from the Soviet Union, which makes him keen to appease his basic electoral base, which is hard-line toward the Palestinians and rejects the settlement.
Lieberman has paved his political path with highly fanatical statements about the bombing of the High Dam in Egypt and the destruction of Iran, and similar pledges to kill Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau. These remarks resonate among Russian Jewish sectors because of their anti-settlement positions. However, Lieberman's performance in the ministry The defense proved to its supporters that it was not worthy of confidence as a result of maintaining calm with Hamas and the long-term truce on the northern front with Iran-backed Hezbollah. Some Russian Jewish commentators called it "the minister of restraint" .
The withdrawal of Lieberman from Netanyahu's government was an attempt to restore the confidence of Russian Jews and an attempt to "distance himself" from the decision to accept the truce to know that the criteria of victory in the political culture entrenched in the electoral base of his party does not include political accommodation or accept compromise solutions, The Soviet Red Army dealt with German Nazis during World War II.
5. Criticism of the Jewish House Party
Lieberman's resignation came after a long period of criticism from his partner in the government coalition and his main rival over the Russian Jewish vote, the Jewish House Party led by Education Minister Naftali Bennett. Over the past months, Lieberman has been criticized for being a weak defense minister following " Leftist, "and that it is unable to counter the Hamas movement's breaches of the separation wall, and that it" does not deal with the return marches with sufficient rigor. "
Following the resignation of Lieberman, representatives of the Jewish House Party threatened to withdraw from the ruling coalition bloc in Israel if the position of defense minister was not given to party leader Naftali Bennett, adding to pressure on the Israeli prime minister, who is leading a 61-year-old government coalition A member of the Knesset from a total of 120 members, exposing him to the possibility of withdrawal of confidence, and call for early elections in the event of the withdrawal of a new bloc of the ruling coalition.
Coalition pressure
Lieberman's resignation has increased pressure on the ruling coalition in Israel as it maintains a fragile and unstable majority, increasing blackmail of the smaller parties in the Likud and Netanyahu coalition for political gains, as well as mounting opposition calls for early elections and investigations into allegations of corruption. Netanyahu "and some of his aides and deputies of his government, and the sharp protests in the areas of southern Israel adjacent to the Gaza Strip refused to accept the government to calm.
Netanyahu's acceptance of the truce was only an attempt to "curb the drift" into an expanded military operation in the Gaza Strip under the pressure of the right-wing leaders in his government.