TEL AVIV (Sputnik) — Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Russian reporters on Wednesday his party's goal was to end terrorism by defeating the Gaza-based Hamas group and executing Arab extremists.
"Our primary objective is to rein in terror. To reign in terror means effectively to end the Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip, and to make it clear to every terrorist that he will not get away alive after carrying out a terror attack against Israel or its citizens… I consider both these goals to be within our reach," Lieberman said.
Lieberman said capital punishment for terrorism will be the first bill that his party will table at the next session of the 20th Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
"Until now, we have unfortunately released more than 3,000 terrorists from prisons as part of deals with [Lebanon's movement] Hezbollah and Hamas," Lieberman told journalists.
The Soviet-born Israeli foreign minister also predicted the emergence of a lackluster national unity Cabinet from the upcoming Knesset vote.
Recent polls revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and its ally, Yisrael Beitenu, have roughly equal support as their opponents in the Zionist union.
"Neither will have a chance to create a stable coalition," Lieberman warned, citing an ideological chasm between the two blocs who, he said, were poor Cabinet material.
"Should a coalition like this be formed, the main goal will be to change the government structure so that any election could produce a stable government," he told Russian journalists.
This statement came less than a week before Israelis vote in a legislative election on March 17. Lieberman's far-right Yisrael Beitenu (Israel is Our Home) party is expected to win no more than six seats in the 120-seat parliament. It currently holds 13 seats.
