Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) spoke to Channel 2 about various "hot topics" which came up in the past year.
Liberman contradicted the complaint that he used convicted IDF soldier Elor Azariya's case to forward his own political agenda.
Azariya shot a terrorist suspected of having an explosive belt - and was then convicted of manslaughter.
"I only said that Azariya is an excellent soldier and that the terrorist was at the scene in order to kill," Liberman said. "We need to let the court work, and I completely trust the system."
He also said that he would support IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot if he chose to pardon Elor Azariya.
"My challenge as Defense Minister, and the IDF's challenge as an army, is to prevent the next war," Liberman said. "With determination and deterrence, we can make the other side see that we're serious."
"Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cannot continue to lead," Liberman said, adding that "it's not in our hands, we're not the higher power."
Regarding the possibility of an additional war in Gaza, Liberman said, "I have no interest in reconquering Gaza."
"We cannot continue fighting a military operation every two years, and if we do fight in Gaza, we must not leave any military infrastructure behind." READ MORE
