Amiram Levin
Amiram LevinTomer Neuberg/Flash 90

Maj. Gen. (res.) Amiram Levin, a member of the Labor party, on Wednesday criticized the government's conduct in light of the escalation in the south.

"I have been warning for months that the harsh words being uttered against Iran and Syria and Hamas in Gaza are empty words that replace plans and solutions, be it due to lack of will or for other reasons, and this comes at the expense of civilians who are abandoned for months in the wake of incendiary balloons, fires and rockets. A weak and worthless organization such as Hamas, instead of being deterred, is deterring the government, Netanyahu and the cabinet who are speaking instead of acting," Levin told Arutz Sheva.

"Not only are our residents in the Gaza envelope and now in Be’er Sheva abandoned for months, we are also strengthening Hamas, which is a weak organization that wants to destroy Israel and with our very own hands we will bring it to power in Judea and Samaria as well," he warned.

This reality, in his opinion, exists "because the Prime Minister and Defense Minister do not really want to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians because that would require painful decisions, including certain compromises, and therefore their sticks are broken and powerless, and their carrots are rotten."

"There are residents of Gaza who are not Hamas. In recent months, those residents of Gaza are suffering from a humanitarian catastrophe, without a future, and we should be releasing the pressure and providing them with solutions, such as opening an airport and a seaport and providing economic aid to give them hope and then when they decide to fight against us we will be able to push back with greater intensity. In the past, they told the residents of the Gaza envelope that they needed to be patient because they were working on removing Iran from Syrian territory. In the end we backed down because of a fault that was not our own and Iran remained there. What will they say now to the residents of the Gaza envelope? That we are afraid of war because of elections?" said Levin.

Asked how he would have acted if he had been a member of a government led by the Zionist Union and was responsible for the Defense Ministry, Levin replied, "Two things at the same time - first of all, an immediate demand from Hamas to stop all combat activity, no balloons, firing or rockets, and if they do not do it, I hit them hard, and I am not going to specify how. But all this is worthless if at the same time there is no real serious plan. A long-term plan is needed that shows that Israel is the strong one, that it is not afraid of Gaza and Hamas and is ready to improve their standard of living while hitting them hard when it is needed to do so.”

"Why is the Israeli government afraid to strike a blow? Because it understands that there is no hope in that. We are the strong ones and yet we are raising a white flag to a weak organization like Hamas, which dictates the agenda to Netanyahu and to all of Israel. This is weakness and cowardice. Not only do we not fight them properly, we are also not trying to find a solution."

Asked about the possibility that the government has an understanding that Israeli society does not wish to embark on a military operation before it is clear that there is no choice but to embark on such an operation, Levin replied, "In other words, the government is influenced by the feelings of the people and does not lead. Imagine if the rocket [fired on Be’er Sheva] had killed the family with the five children. We would have gone to war within two hours. That’s what happened in Operation Protective Edge and we went to war under the worst conditions imaginable. A government should not be influenced by the feelings of the people, but rather lead the people."

Levin said he would not rule out talks with Hamas via the Egyptian mediator, "The dialogue is reasonable and is the right idea, but there is no real intention or a real plan behind it. Hamas understands this and therefore is trying to blackmail us, and when it fails to blackmail us with talks it attacks us with rockets. Bibi is being blackmailed by a weak organization like Hamas because he has no real plan."

Asked whether his remarks hint at a reality in which the Labor party urges the Likud to be more right-wing than it has been in its military response to Hamas, Levin replied, "No. As someone who understands strategy and wars, I say that if you have a real intention to solve the political problems, you are a better fighter. The reason we are not good fighters is not because the IDF does not know how to fight, but because the government does not want to advance towards arrangements, and then the victories are wasted.”

At the same time, he stressed, "I am against giving gifts to the Palestinians, we have suffered enough. They are despicable terrorists, and they deserve no gift. We deserve to find the way to get rid of them and to be a Jewish majority, but if the state wants to rule over the Jordan River, and in the end there will be a state with a Palestinian majority with an Arab Prime Minister or an apartheid state – go ahead, put it on the table and let’s see you."