Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to defend his decision to arm militias in Gaza, which was leaked by Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman, Avigdor Liberman, on Thursday and was met with widespread criticism.
Liberman claimed in an interview, "The Israeli government is transferring weapons to a group of criminals and offenders who identify with ISIS on the orders of the prime minister."
After a short statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) that this was part of an effort to "defeat Hamas in various and varied ways, on the recommendation of all the heads of the defense establishment," Netanyahu himself commented on the issue.
In the latest iteration in a series of short video interviews with his adviser, Netanyahu stated, "Under recommendation from security officials, we made use of clans in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas."
"What's bad about that?" he asked. "It's only good. It saves the lives of IDF soldiers."
A security source told Kan Reshet Bet Radio that the information leak by Liberman was "serious and dangerous."
"It seems that there are no limits to the cynicism and populism for the sake of self-promotion and narrow political ambitions," the source said. "These statements must be a glaring redline for anyone who cares about the security of the state."
In his video statement, Netanyahu also decried the "extremely serious" leak of information, predicting that it won't be investigated because of double standards within the justice system, which he argues specifically target him.
"Publicizing this only benefits Hamas," Netanyahu emphasized.
According to Kan Reshet Bet, weapons were transferred to various groups that are opposed to Hamas in order to enable them to defend themselves against the terror group.
Following reports of the controversy, Hamas cited Liberman's comments as proof that Israel is creating anarchy and plans to "engineer starvation" and steal humanitarian aid by employing these armed gangs.
Numerous reports have indicated that Hamas has systematically diverted humanitarian aid entering Gaza, retaining a portion for its operatives and selling the remainder to the local population as a source of revenue.
Criticism of this new Israeli initiative continued on Friday, when an anonymous Arab ambassador told The Times of Israel, "Netanyahu worked to weaken the [Palestinian Authority] by bolstering Hamas in Gaza before Oct. 7, and now he is doing it by bolstering this gang of criminals."
"Netanyahu didn't want to work with the PA then because it would have meant advancing a broader diplomatic resolution to the conflict, and he is taking the same approach now," the Arab ambassador added.
"Arming clans in Gaza only further divides the Palestinians and increases the chances of a Somalia-like scenario in Gaza."
An Israeli official confirmed to The Times of Israel that the idea of arming Gaza gang members was proposed by Israel's security agency, Shin Bet, following Netanyahu's insistence on excluding the Palestinian Authority from security arrangements in the Gaza Strip.
Republished with permission from All Israel News.