Gilad Sharon, a Likud member and son of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leadership of the Likud party.
In an interview with Ynet today (Thursday), Sharon claimed that "Hamas is still making money off Bibi," and that the policy toward Gaza included "paying tribute to terrorists and transferring billions in cash to them."
He said, "The fear of eliminating the leaders of the terrorists. No matter what they did, burned fields, dug tunnels - they continued to provide them with everything. Even today." Sharon also referred to reports about an appeal to Qatar in September 2023 to increase economic aid to Gaza: "It's maddening."
Dismissing claims that the events of October 7th were a result of the disengagement his father carried out in 2005, he said: "This is an attempt to avoid the question of 'is it good to be in Gaza?' To be among two million enemies? It’s debatable; it’s a legitimate debate, but our prime minister voted for it. So did the defense minister. Both of them voted for it in the government and three times in the Knesset. Do you have complaints? They are the ones to address."
Sharon added that the flow of money to Hamas allowed the organization to build its military infrastructure: "Hamas during the disengagement was a small thing, but billions were pumped into it. What did Netanyahu think they did with that money? Come now, after paying them billions and being afraid to eliminate the terrorists, and cry about it? This is unbearable."
During the interview, he also referred to the draft law and blamed his own party: "Likud is also leading the evasion. After everything we’ve seen. There are some hidden righteous people in the party, but overall, it’s a bunch of cowards. Evasion is against our people. We serve, our sons serve. Releasing tens of thousands of healthy young people when the army needs to be expanded? What is that? I’m a Likud member."
In conclusion, he said: "In Likud, they sold their souls for a job. That’s what they did. I’m not willing to support evasion, I’m not willing to let Qatari agents be normalized in the Prime Minister’s Office - the holiest place in the country."