Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman locked horns over the weekend over the escalating violence on the Israel-Gaza Strip border.
Some 20,000 Palestinians rioted at five locations along the security fence on Friday, burning tires, throwing stones, grenades and explosives at Israeli troops and trying to damage and breach the border.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said the soldiers responded with crowd control measures and sporadic live fire, in accordance with the rules of engagement, adding that military drones struck several Hamas positions in Gaza in response to the violence.
Gaza's Health Ministry said seven Palestinians, including two children ages 12 and 14, were killed, and hundreds were wounded in the deadliest riots in recent weeks.
The Palestinians claimed those killed suffered fatal gunshot wounds, saying at least 90 of the wounded were injured by live fire.
Hamas launched its border riot campaign on March 30 but accelerated them in recent weeks to near-daily events, pressing in large part for an end to a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after the terrorist group seized control of the coastal enclave in a military coup in 2007.
Hamas and Israel came to the brink of a serious conflict this summer as violence escalated along the security fence and Palestinian arson terrorism wreaked havoc on Israeli communities near the border.
The two sides attempted to reach a cease-fire deal through indirect talks mediated by the United Nations and Egypt, but those negotiations have stalled in recent weeks.
"Over the past few days we have witnessed the dangerous results that the defense minister's policy of restraint and weakness has brought," Bennett remarked Saturday.
"When it comes to the Gaza Strip, the more restraint we show, the more terrorism we get. Incendiary kites and balloons continue to threaten the residents of the Gaza-vicinity communities, border riots are getting worse and Palestinians breach IDF posts without fear.
"This is not how you manage security policy. This is what failed policy looks like," Bennett said.
Lieberman's office retorted, "On Friday, seven Palestinian rioters were killed, over 500 were wounded and not one Israeli was scratched. This is the result of resourceful, determined security policies that have proven itself time and again.
"The education minister's repeated attacks on the defense minister reflect his own hysterics and jealousy. Bennett would be wise to focus on the failures of the education system instead of weighing in on issues that require experience, responsibility and solid judgment."
Bennett, the statement said, "is a full partner to all cabinet decisions, and even when he bothers to show up for discussions about Gaza, the record shows he has never voiced objections to the cabinet's decisions."
Meanwhile, an IDF soldier sustained minor injuries Sunday in a counterterrorism operation in the Palestinian village of Nahalin, southwest of Bethlehem.
Residents began rioting shortly after the troops entered the village, hurling rocks at them, one of which hit the soldier, who was treated on site before being taken to a nearby hospital.
The troops responded with crowd control measures as live fire.
Israeli soldiers operating elsewhere in Judea and Samaria arrested seven suspected terrorists, who were turned over to the Shin Bet security agency for interrogation.
