Lieberman: Without Conscription Law, Income Tax Will Rise by 16%
Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman stated at a security conference that failure to pass a universal conscription law would force a 16% income tax hike. He also criticized Netanyahu for blocking past operations against Hamas and advocated for an independent missile corps.
Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman Avigdor Lieberman said this morning (Monday) at the National Security Conference of ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, in collaboration with the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), that "anyone who does not enlist in a military track in the IDF will be in a civilian track. All the rest, if they do not come, will not receive a stipend. No discount on municipal property tax (arnona), no daycare subsidy - and they will have a criminal record. If there is no conscription law for everyone, all Israeli citizens will have to pay at least 16% more in income tax."
He once again accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of thwarting the plan that could have prevented the October 7 massacre, and said: "In December 2016, I passed an 11-page document to then-Prime Minister Netanyahu and wrote that the Nukhba force could attack Israel, conquer communities, and take hostages. I even specified a date. I resigned when I demanded to launch a preemptive strike and eliminate the entire Hamas leadership, but it was not done for all sorts of considerations: they decided to transfer the Qatari money, Netanyahu stood his ground and did not allow the elimination of the Hamas leadership. There was a ready operation, 'Musical Chairs', all that remained was to press the button. Netanyahu prevented it - and then I resigned. Everything is documented, which is why a state commission of inquiry was not established. One of the advantages is that in cabinet meetings everything is recorded and filmed. Netanyahu prevented the 'Musical Chairs' operation and also prevented a preemptive strike in 2018. The next day I said that any agreement involving Qatari money is a surrender to terror, that they are buying short-term quiet at the price of severe damage to national security in the long term. But the plan was not implemented, also in Lebanon. In 2017, I said that we must strike Hezbollah preemptively. The conception brought us to bankruptcy."
When asked how he would solve the prolonged confrontation with Hamas today, he said: "The problem now is that there are six open fronts: Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, Syria, and Judea and Samaria. We need to build a clear order of priorities and reach a decisive outcome. In the field of security, three decisions must be made. Change the security concept: there are no territories for peace and no containment - there is a preemptive strike and a decisive outcome. Whoever does not know how to achieve a decisive outcome in three years will never know how to achieve one."
He added: "The second point is a missile corps. When you attack Iran today, the plane is American, the armament is American, the tanker is American, and the radars are American. You need American coordination to pass through the airspace of another country in the Middle East. You are in an impossible situation. With a missile corps, you press a button and within 10 minutes a ballistic missile explodes at any point in Iran. You do not risk a pilot. I initiated this as Minister of Defense; after I left the ministry, they buried it because 'it is identified with Lieberman.' There is no reason why we should not have a missile corps twice as large as what Iran has. Blue-and-white ballistic missiles."
Regarding the evasion law, he said: "The third thing is that we must have a conscription law for everyone. No exemptions and no stories. Whoever quotes Ben-Gurion should know that he (Ben-Gurion) regretted it. He wrote a letter to the then-Chief Rabbi and expressed regret over the decision. The law I proposed is very simple: whoever does not enlist in a military track in the IDF will be in a civilian track. All the rest - Jews, Muslims, Druze, or Circassians - if they do not come, will not receive a stipend. They will not be able to get a driver's license, they will not be able to be civil servants. That way there will be a line of recruits. Everyone will stand in line the moment we adopt the law with all the sanctions. For everyone. In two tracks. I do not expect a yeshiva student from Ponevezh to enlist in Sayeret Matkal and that a young man from Umm al-Fahm will go to a pilot course, but they can work in the medical system or in the fire department."
