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| Tough Talk but Little Action From Lieberman as Israel’s Defense Minister | Tough Talk but Little Action From Lieberman as Israel’s Defense Minister |
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| JERUSALEM — Israel has been challenged by land, sea and air in recent weeks, as security officials have braced for a wave of violence around the Jewish High Holy Days and the anniversary of the outbreak of Palestinian stabbing, shooting and automobile attacks that began a year ago. | JERUSALEM — Israel has been challenged by land, sea and air in recent weeks, as security officials have braced for a wave of violence around the Jewish High Holy Days and the anniversary of the outbreak of Palestinian stabbing, shooting and automobile attacks that began a year ago. |
| A deadly drive-by shooting in Jerusalem, a spate of stabbings in the West Bank, rockets fired from Gaza into the border city of Sderot, Syrian missiles fired at Israeli warplanes, and a challenge to Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, by a dozen women on a yacht, have all provided a test of how Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s hard-line defense minister, would respond. | A deadly drive-by shooting in Jerusalem, a spate of stabbings in the West Bank, rockets fired from Gaza into the border city of Sderot, Syrian missiles fired at Israeli warplanes, and a challenge to Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, by a dozen women on a yacht, have all provided a test of how Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s hard-line defense minister, would respond. |
| Before his appointment in May in a political deal to bolster Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative coalition, Mr. Lieberman criticized what he called the government’s soft handling of security. Now, five months after his tough talk, Israeli military officials, analysts and Palestinian experts say he has done little to change Israeli policies significantly. | Before his appointment in May in a political deal to bolster Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative coalition, Mr. Lieberman criticized what he called the government’s soft handling of security. Now, five months after his tough talk, Israeli military officials, analysts and Palestinian experts say he has done little to change Israeli policies significantly. |
| “He speaks of collective punishment,” Amos Harel, a military affairs analyst for the newspaper Haaretz, said of Mr. Lieberman’s threats to penalize the families and communities in the occupied West Bank from which attackers hail. “But if there is a closure of a village, it is not complete. He turned up the volume a bit, but not dramatically.” | “He speaks of collective punishment,” Amos Harel, a military affairs analyst for the newspaper Haaretz, said of Mr. Lieberman’s threats to penalize the families and communities in the occupied West Bank from which attackers hail. “But if there is a closure of a village, it is not complete. He turned up the volume a bit, but not dramatically.” |
| Some of the West Bank villages from which assailants have come were closed temporarily, and Israel has continued to strip attackers’ family members of their permits to work in Israel, and demolished their homes. But this did not start with Mr. Lieberman. | Some of the West Bank villages from which assailants have come were closed temporarily, and Israel has continued to strip attackers’ family members of their permits to work in Israel, and demolished their homes. But this did not start with Mr. Lieberman. |
| “Part of what Lieberman said is already the Israeli policy, which includes collective punishment,” said Ghassan Khatib, the vice president of Birzeit University in the West Bank. “This is not new; it is 60 years old.” | “Part of what Lieberman said is already the Israeli policy, which includes collective punishment,” said Ghassan Khatib, the vice president of Birzeit University in the West Bank. “This is not new; it is 60 years old.” |
| The military has long said its strategy has been to try to differentiate between the perpetrators of violence and the rest of the Palestinian population. | |
| An Israeli military official working in the West Bank, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity because of army rules amid the recent resurgence of violence, said that if anything, that policy had been “enhanced.” | |
| When rockets fired by militants from Gaza exploded in Sderot in August, and again last week, causing panic but no injuries, the Israeli retaliation was broader than usual. The first time, Israel retaliated overnight with about 50 airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, not the expected two or three. The second time, Israeli forces hit fewer targets but did so in broad daylight, rather than in the more customary dark of night. In both cases, the target sites appeared to be empty, and nobody was killed. | When rockets fired by militants from Gaza exploded in Sderot in August, and again last week, causing panic but no injuries, the Israeli retaliation was broader than usual. The first time, Israel retaliated overnight with about 50 airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, not the expected two or three. The second time, Israeli forces hit fewer targets but did so in broad daylight, rather than in the more customary dark of night. In both cases, the target sites appeared to be empty, and nobody was killed. |
| Before becoming defense minister, Mr. Lieberman, the leader of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party and a former foreign minister known for undiplomatic bluster, strongly criticized the handling of Israel’s 50-day war in Gaza in 2014. It ended with an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire with Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, and without a decisive victory for Israel. | |
| Mr. Lieberman accused Mr. Netanyahu’s government of pursuing a “defeatist” policy designed to buy quiet instead of overthrowing Hamas. | |
| After last week’s strikes, Mr. Lieberman warned publicly that any fire from Gaza would be met with a powerful response. But he added: “We are a responsible and judicious leadership. We are not seeking adventures, and nobody is pushing for an escalation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.” | After last week’s strikes, Mr. Lieberman warned publicly that any fire from Gaza would be met with a powerful response. But he added: “We are a responsible and judicious leadership. We are not seeking adventures, and nobody is pushing for an escalation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.” |
| A senior Israeli military official in the southern command, which includes the Gaza front, recently said that the 50-strike blitz was intended “to test our own capabilities” and “to send a message to the other side.” By hitting Sderot, the official said, speaking on the usual condition of anonymity, the militants had crossed “a red line.” | A senior Israeli military official in the southern command, which includes the Gaza front, recently said that the 50-strike blitz was intended “to test our own capabilities” and “to send a message to the other side.” By hitting Sderot, the official said, speaking on the usual condition of anonymity, the militants had crossed “a red line.” |
| The response was not calculated to set off an escalation, he said. “The directive I have is to lengthen for as long as possible the period of calm.” | The response was not calculated to set off an escalation, he said. “The directive I have is to lengthen for as long as possible the period of calm.” |
| And when the Israeli Navy intercepted the women’s flotilla, it tried a less belligerent approach by sending female combat soldiers to board the yacht. | And when the Israeli Navy intercepted the women’s flotilla, it tried a less belligerent approach by sending female combat soldiers to board the yacht. |
| In August, Mr. Lieberman unveiled his plan for combating terrorism and dealing with the Palestinians, describing it as a “carrots-and-sticks” approach. His staff refused to discuss details of the policy, but provided a transcript of a briefing about it that Mr. Lieberman gave to Israeli reporters. | In August, Mr. Lieberman unveiled his plan for combating terrorism and dealing with the Palestinians, describing it as a “carrots-and-sticks” approach. His staff refused to discuss details of the policy, but provided a transcript of a briefing about it that Mr. Lieberman gave to Israeli reporters. |
| The carrots being offered to those not involved in attacks against Israelis include infrastructure improvements and economic opportunities. “If somebody wants a soccer pitch or a kindergarten, or somebody wants to talk about the economy, trade, business, we are certainly prepared to,” he said. “After all, we understand that we are destined to live side by side.” | The carrots being offered to those not involved in attacks against Israelis include infrastructure improvements and economic opportunities. “If somebody wants a soccer pitch or a kindergarten, or somebody wants to talk about the economy, trade, business, we are certainly prepared to,” he said. “After all, we understand that we are destined to live side by side.” |
| Mr. Lieberman, himself a West Bank settler, also spoke about increasing the number of permits for Palestinians to work in Israel and easing the roadblocks. | Mr. Lieberman, himself a West Bank settler, also spoke about increasing the number of permits for Palestinians to work in Israel and easing the roadblocks. |
| At a September meeting at the United Nations, Israeli officials presented more sweeteners, including an upgrade to the Allenby Bridge between the West Bank and Jordan, a children’s hospital near Bethlehem, and master plans for building in some Palestinian hamlets in the 60 percent of the West Bank that Israel fully controls, and where almost no Palestinian construction has been allowed. There was also talk of allowing a gas pipeline to Gaza to ease the energy crisis there, as well as selling more water to the Palestinians. | At a September meeting at the United Nations, Israeli officials presented more sweeteners, including an upgrade to the Allenby Bridge between the West Bank and Jordan, a children’s hospital near Bethlehem, and master plans for building in some Palestinian hamlets in the 60 percent of the West Bank that Israel fully controls, and where almost no Palestinian construction has been allowed. There was also talk of allowing a gas pipeline to Gaza to ease the energy crisis there, as well as selling more water to the Palestinians. |
| “These are the kinds of common-sense steps that, if implemented, will take us forward in a positive way,” Secretary of State John Kerry said at the meeting at the United Nations. “Nobody denies that. But there’s no political horizon in any of it.” | “These are the kinds of common-sense steps that, if implemented, will take us forward in a positive way,” Secretary of State John Kerry said at the meeting at the United Nations. “Nobody denies that. But there’s no political horizon in any of it.” |
| The incentives have not generated much enthusiasm among Palestinians who want to see the end of Israeli occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state. | The incentives have not generated much enthusiasm among Palestinians who want to see the end of Israeli occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state. |
| Jamal Dajani, the director of strategic communications in the office of the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, described Mr. Lieberman’s strategy as a “new-old policy that has been tried before and failed.” | Jamal Dajani, the director of strategic communications in the office of the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, described Mr. Lieberman’s strategy as a “new-old policy that has been tried before and failed.” |
| “It should not be a favor to provide a kindergarten to a community, nor a playground,” he said. “To win hearts and minds — you are not going to buy that with a soccer field, for goodness sake. This should go without saying.” | “It should not be a favor to provide a kindergarten to a community, nor a playground,” he said. “To win hearts and minds — you are not going to buy that with a soccer field, for goodness sake. This should go without saying.” |
| As for what sticks he would use beyond the usual toolbox of demolishing houses, canceling work permits and stripping certain Palestinian officials of their V.I.P. passes, Mr. Lieberman has been vague. | As for what sticks he would use beyond the usual toolbox of demolishing houses, canceling work permits and stripping certain Palestinian officials of their V.I.P. passes, Mr. Lieberman has been vague. |