During a Yisrael Beiteinu faction meeting, party chairman MK Avigdor Liberman said that Druze MK Hamad Amar from his party is the party’s candidate for internal security minister in the next government. “We will wage a war without compromise,” Liberman said, following the severe crime situation in the north after the assassination attempt on the head of the Jadeidi-Makr council.
Liberman: “The north of the country is under a terror attack from two directions: on one side Hezbollah, and on the other side crime organizations operating in the north. What happened in Jadeidi-Makr, criminals shooting the council head and his deputy—this is a loss of sovereignty and it’s unbearable. I personally toured the north and saw the burned buses of ‘Hasa’ot Segel,’ a northern business whose owner refused to pay protection money. I talk every day with people across the country—they’re afraid.”
The Yisrael Beiteinu chairman continued: “Most business owners pay protection money. We must declare total war. When we return to power, we will wage total war against crime organizations. It’s only a matter of time before armed militias join the Nukhba terrorists and crime organizations in the north join Hezbollah. Already today there’s cooperation between them in drug trafficking. We must fight crime organizations the way we fight terror.”
The former defense minister proposed a solution: “We’ll establish special courts for protection rackets. We need to impose sentences of at least 12 years in prison for everyone involved in organized crime and extortion. There will be no sentence reductions and no pardons. We’re simply losing the north, and before we talk about sovereignty over Gaza or settlement in Syria, let’s restore sovereignty to the north. Regardless of who the next prime minister is, the next internal security minister will be MK Hamad Amar—we will wage a war without compromise.”
“There’s a difference between talk and action,” Liberman continued. “When Yisrael Beiteinu held the internal security portfolio, there were 61 murder victims in Arab society. This year there were 260. We will handle the issue professionally. What’s needed isn’t TikTok, but a national headquarters to combat organized crime. We need cooperation not just from the Shin Bet—the prosecution, tax authority, and anti-money laundering units need to be there too. We need to initiate, not wait.”
Regarding the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman who went off the rails, and everything happening on social media with attacks on the IDF chief of staff over patches, he said: “Soldiers are being killed and wounded in the north, the IDF is collapsing into itself, reservists are being worn down, and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman is promoting draft dodging and dealing with patches. The man is unfit to sit in this position—it’s unbelievable. The prime minister and defense minister are silent as fish in the face of all the attacks on the chief of staff.”
Liberman continued defending the chief of staff: “He’s facing multiple missions: Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, a fragile situation in the Judea and Samaria, and the reserves system. The entire system is 100,000 people, one percent who are also a core force in the economy. How much can you wear them down, how much pressure can you put on them? This government must step down—it can’t defeat organized crime, terror organizations, and can’t bring security and stability to the State of Israel.”
On the draft law, he said: “We’re following what’s happening with the draft dodging law. Why hasn’t the text been published? The text that was prepared isn’t relevant after the Supreme Court ruling—there were very important comments there. It’s clear this is just an exercise, all pretend, to please Goldknopf, Deri, and Gafni, who might agree to postpone the Knesset dissolution law.”
The Yisrael Beiteinu chairman also spoke about the Yesh Atid party leader: “I respect Gadi Eisenkot, but Yisrael Beiteinu’s position is that there’s no scenario where we sit with Deri, Goldknopf, or Gafni in the same coalition. The State of Israel has undergone a hostile takeover of Judaism by anti-Jews and anti-Zionists. The draft law applies to everyone—Jews, Muslims, Circassians, everyone. Every 18-year-old must enlist. There are two tracks, military or civilian—the IDF will decide.”
He added on this topic: “The story of the outline, of exemptions out of respect for the Torah world—this is dangerous. I deeply believe in the great sages of Israel. The greatest thinker was Maimonides, who said that in a mandatory war even a groom leaves his chamber and a bride her canopy. There’s no reason for exemptions—there won’t be a single draft dodger with us. To connect, we need to formulate a joint platform. We won’t conduct any negotiations—it’s take it or leave it. Also in employment, everyone must work, both serve and work. Everything else is out of the question.”
Liberman also shared his political forecasts: “I believe we’ll reach 63 mandates. We need to form a Zionist coalition. Also regarding the Arab parties—if you want to eradicate crime, vote for Zionist parties. The Arab parties didn’t deal with this, it doesn’t interest them—they dealt with Hamas and a ‘Palestinian’ state.”
The Yisrael Beiteinu chairman gave his opinion on the Hadash party chairman: “We know Yosef Jabareen. He’s engaged in delegitimizing the State of Israel, spreading slander about us in every international forum, and working to tighten ties with BDS. He and his whole gang have no place in the Knesset of Israel—let them go sit in Gaza. The crime rampant today in Arab society is the result of separatism. What interests the Arab parties is promoting Hamas and a ‘Palestinian’ state.”
Liberman continued with the slogan that Netanyahu’s era is over: “After the elections, there will be enough Likud MKs who will join the next coalition. They understand that Netanyahu has finished his path and he’s on the way to finishing the State of Israel. We can bring several MKs from Likud. Every military operation must end in a decision. You don’t start military operations without defining that there will be a decision at the end. You can’t live in a reality of rounds—it harms national security both now and in the long term. Even in Gaza, Hamas still rules. It’s clear to me that Netanyahu initiates operations without purpose, except for the purpose of elections.”
On relations with the U.S., he said: “It’s the greatest friend, and President Trump is a great friend of the State of Israel. We learned in the past that sometimes you need to say no. Menachem Begin also stood up to Reagan and didn’t give in. In the past, we knew how to stand our ground even against the U.S., even during my time as director general of the prime minister’s office. This self-nullification stems from other considerations.”