'Big mistake to challenge Netanyahu, he'll come back even stronger'

With elections in Israel impending, attacking Gaza is good for politics and the Palestinians have a lot to worry about, even under a ceasefire agreement, Israeli peace activist Miko Peled told RT.

Lieberman and others are making a big mistake if they think they're going to defeat Netanyahu, one of the most seasoned and smartest politicians in Israel today, Israeli peace activist Miko Peled, told RT.

Less than 24 hours after a ceasefire was reached with the Palestinian leadership on Wednesday, the Israeli Army reportedly  violated the agreement, shooting and killing a Gaza fisherman.

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Gaza's Health Ministry identified the victim as Nawaf Ahmed al-Attar, a young man who was just under a hundred feet out at sea when Israeli soldiers fired on him, according to the Gaza fishers union. The killing comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing rising anger from political allies and constituents for his decision to reach a peace deal with Hamas following an Israeli invasion of Gaza on Sunday.

In protest of the ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned from Netanyahu's cabinet. He also announced his right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party will exit the prime minister's ruling coalition, raising the possibility of a government collapse.
RT's America Anya Parampil spoke to Israeli peace activist Miko Peled, author of 'Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five' and discussed whether or not Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition is threatened in light of the resignation of Lieberman.

RT:What does this killing of a Gaza fisherman tell us about the meaning of the word 'ceasefire' when it comes to the Gaza Strip?

Miko Pele: Israel doesn't know what ceasefire is. Israel has never respected any of the ceasefire agreements that it ever signed with the Palestinians… This is really nothing new. And I think the world should be watching and the world to be paying attention, because… there might be elections in Britain very soon. Jeremy Corbyn, one of his most prominent promises is to stop selling arms to Israel because of its human rights abuses, because of its misuse of the arms that are being sold in Gaza. This is something that the world needs to pay attention to, certainly here in the United States and Europe.

Countries that sell weapons to Israel need to realize and start to act on this because Israel does not respect ceasefire agreements or any other agreements for that matter.

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RT:This ceasefire was declared after Palestinian fighters successfully targeted a bus of Israeli soldiers with a Kornet rocket – that's what they're saying it was – which the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah says it gave Hamas. What did this operation tell us about what a future war with Gaza would look like for Israel?

MP: There's also this covert operation of Israeli ground forces that went into Gaza and got their backsides kicked.

RT:But this may have pushed the Israelis to say 'maybe we shouldn't escalate here, if they can hit us back.'

MP: Exactly. Both of these things show that Israel does not want face-to-face confrontation with Palestinian fighters. In the operation in Gaza they lost a lieutenant-colonel which is a very high rank. That is quite rare that an officer of that rank gets killed. And I think as they learned in South Lebanon, they do not want a face-to-face or troop-to- troop confrontation with Hezbollah either. Because these are very dedicated fighters. And so then they resort to bombing from the air. They've got all the firepower. They don't need to risk this kind of humiliation. And the Palestinians are determined to fight and defend themselves.

RT:How significant of a blow to Netanyahu is the resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman? Do you believe the governing coalition will last?

MP: I was in Jerusalem just last week and I did visit the Knesset, met with some members of Knesset… The sense that elections are coming up was already in the air. I think Lieberman is making a big mistake, as the other parties, if they think they're going to defeat Netanyahu. Netanyahu is the most seasoned and certainly the smartest politician in Israel today. He has a record which no Israeli prime minister had ever – the recognition of Jerusalem, America pulling out of the Iran agreement and… openly very good relations with Arab countries, better than they've ever had. It is going to be very difficult for anybody to challenge him. And I think they're taking a risk and they're making a big mistake if they do call elections because he will come back and there's a good chance that he'll come back even stronger.

RT:Why do some Israelis support a full-scale war in Gaza at the moment? What is your response to citizens from Israel who say: 'what about the rockets we're dealing with in the south?'

MP: They are absolutely right to be angry and they're absolutely right to want to see the rockets stop…The problem is the people in Gaza, two million people living in a prison without access to medical care, without access to water, without access to proper food, without having the ability to travel. And they're constantly being bombed by Israel. That is the problem. I think what they should be calling for on the Israeli side is to free Gaza, to open up Gaza, to allow the refugees to return, to repatriate, to rebuild. And then everybody could live in peace as they deserve to. But to demand more bombing is the wrong approach.

RT:What will you be watching for in coming days to see how the situation develops? Do you think it will escalate further or just kind of peter out?

MP: It seems like that everybody chose to not escalate at this point. Although with elections impending, attacking Gaza is good for politics, is good for elections. And Israel attacks all the time for whatever reason it wants: for elections, for any other reason that they might feel it would serve them. It is hard to say. But I think with elections coming up, the Palestinians in Gaza have a lot to worry about.

RT:Even under a ceasefire agreement?

MP: Absolutely.

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