JERUSALEM, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israel's government was in turmoil on Wednesday after its defense minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned over cease-fire with Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.
A spokesperson for the pro-settler Jewish Home, the second largest party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, said its lawmakers unanimously voted to leave the government if Netanyahu will not give the defense portfolio to the party leader, Naftali Bennett.
Netanyahu's Likud party issued a statement saying the prime minister has called on to "stabilize" the coalition and for now, will keep the defense portfolio for himself.
Local media reported that Netanyahu launched a series of talks with the heads of his coalition parties in an attempt to keep them together.
Avi Gabay, head of the Zionist Union party, the main opposition faction in the parliament, called for immediate elections.
"Unfortunately, Netanyahu preferred the small political considerations and appointed an unsuitable person for the position of defense minister," Gabay said in a statement. "This policy has led us to the fact that Hamas decides when our defense minister will resign."
Lieberman, 60, a hawkish politician, announced his resignation in a press conference earlier on Wednesday.
"What happened yesterday ... is capitulating to terror," Lieberman said, referring to Tuesday's cease-fire. The truce halted a flare-up between Israel and Hamas after three days of fire exchanges that cost the lives of at least 16 people in Gaza and Israel.
Lieberman has reportedly objected to ending the air strikes in Gaza during a seven-hour cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
"What we're doing now as a state is buying short-term quiet, with the price being severe long-term damage to national security," he added.
