Ya’alon: Israel is weak in the face of Hamas

Former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon has described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “weak” in the face of Hamas.

During a visit to Israeli communities located near the Gaza fence yesterday, he said: “The state of Qatar has recently proposed to transfer the salaries of 23,000 civil employees working with the Hamas government in Gaza,” Al-Watan Voice reported yesterday.

He added: “These salaries are worth $10 million. We took the names of all those proposed to receive salaries. Who is thinking of transferring money to Hamas?”

He continued: “I see that we became weak. They increased the sum to $15 million and now to $40 million a month. Israel became weak during Netanyahu’s era.”

Having resigned as Israel’s Defence Minister in 2016, Ya’alon is now running in next week’s general election as number three on the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) alliance’s slate. The party, which is headed by ex-army Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, has become Netanyahu’s main electoral challenger, with the final polls released yesterday suggesting he could beat the incumbent prime minister to the top spot on Tuesday.

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