MK Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) on Thursday blasted opposition leader Yair Lapid after he called for the removal of the Prime Minister in the midst of the war and the establishment of an alternative government.
"Lapid is a petty and irresponsible politician who is concerned with politics while our soldiers are fighting in battle," Cohen said in an interview with Radio Kol Chai.
Cohen wondered why Lapid singled out Netanyahu as the first bearer of responsibility. "Why doesn't he demand that the Chief of Staff be removed? From what I know, he should go long before the Prime Minister does."
To the question of what should be done in the Gaza Strip after the fall of Hamas, Cohen said that "I advocate the step-by-step method. First of all, eliminate all the terrorists. The Israeli mistake is that they’re already thinking about the day after."
"The terrorists who slaughtered my brothers and friends didn't think about the next day. The first rule in the Middle East is to destroy whoever harmed you. When I opened an office in Sderot a few months ago they said I was delusional."
He clarified that "the role of an army is to protect the lives of civilians. I also risked my life as a soldier. We forgot that and we complain that soldiers have to carry out missions to protect civilians. On the seventh of October, the illusion collapsed in on itself. You cannot compare a civilian's life with a soldier's life."
"If there continues to be a threat from Gaza, everyone will return to the country from which they came and there is no point in staying here. We have great achievements. A country that is not willing to pay a price for peace does not deserve peace and will not get it."