Another coalition partner, Naftali Bennett of the pro-settler Jewish Home party, has threatened to pull out of the government unless it gets to appoint a military attache who would keep ministers up to date on security developments.
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Besides Lieberman becoming defence minister and another member of his party becoming immigrant absorption minister, the government agreed to allocate approximately 1.4 billion shekels (US$363 million, €325 million) to pensions of elderly Israelis. The party’s Sofa Landwer will become migration minister.
Official sources said that nothing is finalized about a meeting between President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Netanyahu and Abu Mazen to follow up on Sisi’s call of last week for reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis. The signed coalition agreement will be available for the review of MKs for 24 hours.
Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has cemented a coalition deal that will usher in the most rightwing nationalist government in the country’s history.
The move precipitated the resignation of Likud’s Moshe Yaalon from the defence portfolio and the Knesset entirely.
“Time is short. Netanyahu is trying to buy time, but this time he will not escape the worldwide community”, Hamdallah said in a meeting with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who was visiting Israel and the PA to promote the global peace conference that his country is hosting in June.
The United States, Toner noted, is also aware that numerous new government’s ministers have said that they oppose a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestine crisis. “My policy has not changed. We will pursue every avenue for peace while ensuring the safety and security of our citizens”.
Lieberman has angered Egypt, which has close security ties with Israel, with comments years ago calling for Israel to bomb the Aswan Dam. We’ve worked together in the past for the good of Israel’s citizens. “It’s no secret we’ve disagreed with each other, that’s part of political life”. I intend to seize those opportunities.
Mr Netanyahu has been desperate to find a way to enlarge his coalition, which previously had a majority of a single vote, and he considered cutting a deal with the left-wing opposition before finally turning to Mr Lieberman.
At the same Knesset session, opposition leader and Zionist Union chief Isaac Herzog accused Netanyahu of “slamming the door” to peace and becoming a “hostage” to political extremists. Most important, he stated, “When there is a dispute between the integrity of the nation and the integrity of the land, then integrity of the nation is more important”.
He dismissed doubts about his qualifications for the role of defense minister, which the agreement guarantees him.
At a news conference on Friday, Mr Yaalon said: “I fought with all my might against manifestations of extremism, violence and racism in Israeli society, which are threatening its sturdiness and also trickling into the IDF [Israel Defence Forces], hurting it already”, Haaretz newspaper reports.
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Several former Israeli defence ministers have criticised Lieberman’s appointment to the sensitive post. But it is the office of Minister of Defense that has been his longtime dream.
