Govt in turmoil as minister quits

Israeli premier now has only 1-seat majority in parliament

JERUSALEM, Middle East - Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has resigned to protest a new cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza, throwing the government into turmoil and pushing the country toward an early election.

His defection leaves Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with only 61 of 120 seats in his coalition, the narrowest of parliamentary majorities.

"What happened yesterday - the truce combined with the process with Hamas - is capitulating to terror," Lieberman told journalists in explaining his reasons for resigning.

"What we're doing now as a state is buying short-term quiet, with the price being severe long-term damage to national security."

He added later: "We should agree on a date for elections as early as possible."

Netanyahu has defended Tuesday's cease-fire deal that ended the worst escalation between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since a 2014 conflict.

An official from Netanyahu's Likud party hit back at speculation that early elections would be called and said the prime minister would take charge of Lieberman's portfolio at least temporarily.

"There's no obligation to go to an election in this time of security sensitivity," the official said on condition of anonymity.

A Likud spokesman said later that Netanyahu had begun consultations with heads of parties in his coalition to stabilize it and that these would continue on Thursday.

But he said in a statement that Lieberman had yet to submit his resignation letter.

Another coalition rival

Elections are not due until November 2019. In theory, Netanyahu can continue in his post, but with another coalition rival, Naftali Bennett, threatening to leave if he doesn't get the defense portfolio, the days of Netanyahu's government appear numbered.

Lieberman, a security hardliner, heads the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party, which holds five seats in the 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.

Beyond Lieberman's resignation, several hundred Israelis living near the border with Gaza staged a protest to call for further action against Hamas.

In the two days of heavy fighting, Palestinian militants had fired 460 rockets and mortars into Israel, while Israel carried out airstrikes on 160 Gaza targets. Palestinians, including five militants, were killed. A rocket fired from Gaza killed a Palestinian laborer in Israel. In all, 27 Israelis were wounded, three of them severely.

Netanyahu defended his strategy and said: "In times of emergency, when making decisions crucial to security, the public can't always be privy to the considerations that must be hidden from the enemy."

Hamas called the cease-fire a victory and thousands of residents of the blockaded enclave took to the streets late on Tuesday to celebrate.

The Egyptian-brokered truce was announced by Gaza militant groups, including Hamas, on Tuesday.

A diplomatic source familiar with the agreement said it involved returning to arrangements put in place following the 2014 conflict, but warned: "The situation remains very precarious and can blow up again.

"What we have seen in the past 48 hours was very dangerous and no efforts should be spared to avoid similar flare-ups."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday Moscow hopes that the cease-fire will last. "We expect it to be sustainable and long-term, and to enable the international community to step up work aimed at rectifying the dismal humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and achieve a just Palestinian-Israeli settlement on a well-known international legal basis," it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a knife-wielding Palestinian attacker sneaked into a Jerusalem police station and lightly wounded four officers before he was shot and captured, Israeli police said on Thursday.

Afp - Ap - Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 11/16/2018 page11)