Defense Minister Amir Peretz accused the Likud party on Monday of allowing Hezbollah to gain strength in southern Lebanon in recent years.

Peretz, responding to a no-confidence motion against him, attacked opposition members, saying, "Where do you get the gall? You are responsible for ignoring the building up of Hezbollah for many years. Every citizen in Israel knows that there is a limit to how far you can distort reality."

Peretz was referring to the critcism he has faced over his failure as defense minister to defeat Hezbollah during last summer's war in Lebanon.

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Focusing on opposition chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, Peretz said "MKs, former prime ministers, suddenly everyone knows what the situation was. You were all members of this cabinet, why didn't you speak up? How could you not have warned anyone?"

"No one can take away from me the fact that the only one who disclosed the failures, and is dealing with them day in and day out, is me," Peretz continued.

MKs Gideon Sa'ar and Limor Livnat (Likud) said in reponse "the fact that you are the defense minister is the worst blow the morale within the Israel Defense Forces could have suffered."

Peretz replied that until now he had displayed restraint, but "at the moment that you begin to exploit the country's security, you harm Israel's morale, the morale of the citizens and the IDF soldiers."

According to Peretz, the war in Lebanon last summer achieved many victories. "There is no doubt that the situation in Lebanon has changed," Peretz said. "In the past, Hezbollah felt at home in southern Lebanon. We have no intention of leaving the security of Israel in the hands of the Lebanese army or the United Nations," he added.