Former MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari on Saturday night criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, saying that only wiping out Gaza would bring quiet to Israeli citizens.
"I was convinced that after the terrible murder of Daniel Tragerman in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, Israel's leaders Ya'alon and Netanyahu would understand that with murderers you speak as you would with murderers," he said.
He added, "I hear Ya'alon calming us down and saying we are on verge of a political agreement, he turned them into a country... Moshe Ya'alon is bringing us closer to disaster. An agreement with this gang of murderers will bring Iran, he will bring the worst enemies we have."
Ben-Ari continued, turning directly to Ya’alon, "Basically you're saying that these murderers are a country, when will you realize that this is a gang of terrorists you are turning into a state?”
"I say what I already said at the beginning of the operation," he reminded. "This is not Gaza and us, it is either us or Gaza. As long as Gaza is around - the State of Israel is in danger. If we want the State of Israel to exist we should do one thing - erase Gaza. That’s only thing that would make it be quiet here."
Ben-Ari also criticized Netanyahu for stating at the beginning of the operation that "quiet will be met with quiet", saying that "quiet is not a working plan, it is not an ideology. We have to say that this is our country and anyone who threatens that will not be here."
Over the past several days there has been much criticism of Netanyahu over his handling of the situation in Gaza, and that criticism has come from both sides of the political spectrum.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) said on Wednesday ,"I hope that now it's clear to everyone that the policy of 'quiet will be met by quiet' means that Hamas is the initiator and the one deciding when, where and how it will fire on Israeli residents."
Liberman also noted that “even far-leftists would topple Hamas”.
Liberman's criticism of Netanyahu's policy follows in the wake of MK Danny Danon's (Likud) similar statements Wednesday morning, in which he said "the policy of 'quiet will be met by quiet' brought about the humiliation of Israel."
Left-wing Labor MK Erel Margalit accused Netanyahu of "paralyzing Israel" through indecisive leadership.