Over the years, only rarely have defense ministers resigned of their free will. Only one such case comes to mind – Ezer Weizman resigning in 1980 because he disagreed with then Prime Minister Menachem Begin's actions following the signing of the peace treaty with Egypt.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced on Wednesday that he would step down because over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy toward Hamas in Gaza. It remains to be seen whether his resignation will help him politically but there is no doubt that it already hurt Israel by scrambling its politics and granting Hamas a free win.
If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has to choose between calling early elections and appointing Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett as defense minister, we would be best served by opting for the former. Moving up the elections by six months is preferable to having a defense minister who was appointed because of political extortion by a small faction. Giving Habayit Hayehudi so many important portfolios (it currently holds the justice and education portfolios) would disproportionately favor that faction. If Habayit Hayehudi wants to make sure this right-wing government stays in power, it should not dictate its terms.
To Lieberman's credit, he has been a better defense minister than his immediate predecessor Moshe Ya'alon. He has been more critical of the Israel Defense Forces, at least when it comes to its ground forces, and has forced the top brass to pay attention to the military's shortcomings on various matters.
He gave the outgoing IDF Ombudsman Maj. Gen. (res.) Yitzhak Brik the nickname "The Last Of The Mohicans" and even gave him wide access to scrutinize IDF units. Brik was Lieberman's eyes and ears in the complex maze known as the IDF, shedding light on areas that even the IDF chief of staff was not aware of.
Upon his appointment, Lieberman changed the way the IDF responded to Hamas provocations, be it riots on the border, excavation of tunnels or rocket fire. The IDF responses became much more forceful. The technological breakthrough that allows easier detection of cross-border tunnels was also made during his tenure, and many such tunnels were destroyed. In fact, because of all the criticism leveled on the government over its handling of the latest flare-up, no one has noticed that several more tunnels were destroyed over the past week.
Despite the current rift between Lieberman and the chief of staff, they have had no daylight over the past seven months over how to deal with the weekly riots on the Gaza Strip fence. Lieberman also repeatedly said there was no point in taking out Hamas' leadership because every assassinated leader would be replaced by his deputy.
Lieberman is of the view that the current conflict with the Palestinians will only be resolved in several decades, like the Cold War. The most fascinating thing about Lieberman's time as defense minister is how, despite getting the job he so coveted, this did not improve his popularity. In fact, the opposite is true. His resignation stems from a desire to outflank the Likud from the right ahead of the elections.
Even his ongoing effort to pass legislation making it easier to sentence terrorists to death is a form of deception. This is because courts can't hand down a death sentence if the prosecution does not seek the death penalty. Now that Lieberman is on his way out, at least this nonsense is gone.
There is no doubt that, whatever misgivings one might have over Netanyahu's handling of security matters, his stature is on the rise. Netanyahu has managed to convince the public that he has an objective he wants to achieve, especially in the north. This proves that he is head and shoulders above the rest.
