All was quiet on Israel\u2019s southern front on Wednesday a day after Hamas unleashed the worst attack on Israel in years. But the political fallout from the ceasefire agreement could be huge for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced his resignation on Wednesday over an Egyptian and UN brokered ceasefire agreement, saying that it was \u201csurrender to terrorism.\u201d<\/b>
\nJERUSALEM, Israel – All was quiet on Israel\u2019s southern front on Wednesday a day after Hamas unleashed the worst attack on Israel in years. But the political fallout from the ceasefire agreement could be huge for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced his resignation on Wednesday over an Egyptian and UN brokered ceasefire agreement, saying that it was \u201csurrender to terrorism.\u201d
\u201cThe question asked is why now,\u201d Lieberman said at a press conference on Wednesday.
\u201cFor me, what happened yesterday – the cease-fire yesterday – combined with the long term deal with Hamas is a surrender to terrorism. There’s no other definition, no other meaning, but surrender to terrorism,\u201d he said.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman
Lieberman also cited the earlier decision to allow $15 million in cash from Qatar to be transferred in suitcases across the border to Hamas as the second factor forcing his decision.
Lieberman\u2019s party will now move to the opposition. That gives Netanyahu only a very slim majority in his coalition, which could bring about the collapse of his government and force early elections.
Before Lieberman\u2019s resignation, Netanyahu defended the ceasefire.
\u00ab\u00a0I see the big picture of Israeli security that I cannot share with the public, I wish I could share everything I know,\u201d Netanyahu said at a memorial ceremony for Israel\u2019s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
\u201cBut in the security of Israel, more is hidden than known. Our enemies (Gaza’s Hamas rulers) begged for a cease-fire and they know well why. I cannot detail our plans for the future. We will dictate the times and circumstances that are right for Israel and are right for the security of our people,\u201d Netanyahu said.
Hamas and other Islamic terror groups launched some 460 rockets at Israel over a 24-hour period earlier this week, killing one person and injuring some 70 others. Israel responded with 160 airstrikes on military targets in Gaza.
For years, Hamas has launched rockets at southern Israeli communities. Since March, Israelis have been subjected to intense periods of rocket attacks as well as fire kite and balloon attacks that have burned thousands of acres of farmland and nature reserves.
Hamas Rockets Launched at Israel
Israelis and Gazans had different reactions to the ceasefire.
Hamas official Ismail Radwan called it a triumph.
\u201cThis constitutes a victory for the resistance and recognition of defeat and failure by Lieberman and the Zionist occupation,\u201d Radwan said.
\u201cIt’s a fallout of the disgraceful crime in Khan Younis in which the occupation tried to agitate the Palestinian arena and it’s a failure of the policy of siege and devastating wars against the Gaza Strip. This is the result of our Palestinian people’s steadfastness,\u201d he added.
Gazans mounted a huge victory rally in the streets, near the former Hamas television station, bombed during a retaliatory strike by Israel.
Meanwhile, Israelis in the south protested the ceasefire, with hundreds of residents blocking the road near the southern Israeli town of Sderot, often called the \u201cbomb shelter capital of the world.\u201d
Sderot residents were speaking their mind.
\u201cIt only lets us suffer, nothing more. We are third class (citizens) here in Sderot and (so are) the communities at the border with Gaza, not only Sderot,\u201d said David Maimon. \u201cIt’s a shame instead of helping us, let us live quietly, they let us suffer. We only suffer, for 18 years we have been suffering,\u201d
\u00ab\u00a0I will never vote for Netanyahu. People here are traumatized. Gaza is victorious, what is this nonsense, it can’t continue like this,\u201d said another Sderot resident Herzl Zigzag.
About a million Israelis live in the area that is subject to rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.
For now, Netanyahu remains in power but the next weeks and months will tell whether the tense calm in the south and shaky government in Jerusalem will hold.
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