The Arab Balad party sent a request to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Wednesday asking to investigate Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) head Avigdor Lieberman for a speech he made Tuesday.

In a speech given at Bar Ilan University, Lieberman said Israel must destroy Hamas's will to fight, explaining that Israel will not be safe until Hamas is no longer in power and saying it must therefore be completely crushed. He warned that any ceasefire or temporary peace would be exploited by Hamas for the purpose of storing weapons and preparing for the next round of fighting.

"We must continue to fight Hamas just like the United States did with the Japanese in World War II,” Lieberman said. The U.S. carried out two atomic bomb attacks in Japan in 1945, leading to the country's surrender. America defeated Japan without a ground invasion, making a military occupation unnecessary, Lieberman said.

Balad MKs said Lieberman's speech constituted incitement to violence, incitement to racism and incitement to genocide, all crimes. Lieberman should be investigated and then put on trial, they said.

Lieberman and Balad clashed earlier in the week as well—on Monday, Lieberman was a target of Balad's wrath after the party was disqualified by the Knesset's House Committee. At that time, Balad head Jamal Zahalka said Lieberman “could have been a respected member of any fascist party” and attacked his background, saying, “He came to Israel as an immigrant, and has no right to speak out against native Israelis.”

Lieberman called Balad “a terrorist branch,” and accused Zahalka of meeting with terrorists in Jordan.

Last year Lieberman and Zahalka clashed over National Service in the Arab sector, an argument that ended with Zahalka terming Lieberman “a fascist” and Lieberman calling Zahalka “a fifth column” and warning him, “We will make sure you end up where you deserve.”