Former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said on Wednesday that they will push for a hardline deterrence policy against Iran while seeking to rebuild frayed ties with American liberals and the European Union.

Bennett, a security hawk leading the B’Yachad party alongside Lapid, told party members at an internal policy conference in Tel Aviv that attacks from Iranian proxies should be treated as if they came from Iran.

“If Hezbollah fires at us, we strike Iran. A strike by the Iranian octopus’s tentacles inside Israel’s borders will exact a price inside Iran’s borders,” Bennett declared.

While accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of tearing “Israeli society to shreds” and thus being ineffective against foreign enemies, he echoed the premier’s insistence that Israel refuse to pull back in Gaza until Hamas is disarmed.

Bennett also said he will not allow Qatar or Turkey to have any role in postwar Gaza, reiterating his call for Qatar to be labeled an enemy state.

“We will not move a millimeter from the Yellow Line until Hamas is completely disarmed and this weaponry is removed from Gaza. We will maintain security and freedom of action throughout the Gaza Strip. We will remove Qatar and Turkey from Gaza and replace them with Egypt. Whoever allows Qatar and Turkey to run Gaza is preventing the dismantling of Hamas,” said Bennett.

“We will use our credit with the White House only for the benefit of Israel’s security, and we will also know how to say ‘no’ when necessary and stand up for Israel’s security without compromise. Just as I did during the government I headed when I said no to President [Joe] Biden on the issue of establishing an American consulate in East Jerusalem.”

Bennett also backed redefining rampant and deadly crime in the Arab community as a national security threat rather than a criminal one, urging the deployment of the IDF and Shin Bet in the fight against illegal........

© The Times of Israel