How will Lieberman’s party manage to influence policy and legislation by its presence in the coalition?
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Lieberman has antagonized Washington at times by throwing cold water on American peace initiatives.
“He wants to work with the French”, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Monday. “This raises legitimate questions about the direction it may be headed in”.
Israel’s Maariv newspaper, right-wing itself, dubbed this Israel’s “most right-wing and extremist” government in the country’s 68-year history.
He split with Netanyahu a year later, starting the Yisrael Beiteinu party in 1999.
In a reply to a question from MK Yoel Hasson (Zionist Union), Mandelblit says there’s no basis to the claims Weinstein dragged his feet in investigating the so-called “Bibi Tours” case, in which Netanyahu allegedly received gifts from businessmen and others to pay for trips overseas for him and his wife Sara when he was finance minister last decade.
The pact between Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party and Yisrael Beitenu, after several days of intensive negotiations, will give the four-term prime minister control of 67 of parliament’s 120 seats, up from his current majority of 61.
It indicates to the worldwide community that the government isn’t fully committed to two states, according to Gadi Wolfsfeld, a political scientist at IDC Herzliya, a nonprofit Israeli university.
“The message that the settlers will get is that we have our own man in the defence ministry, so we definitely can assert ourselves in the West Bank”, he said. He has repeatedly voiced skepticism about pursuing peace with the Palestinians. He also has angered the Americans with legislative proposals viewed as racist, such as a failed proposal to force Arab citizens of Israel to take an oath of loyalty in order to vote.
He’s called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas an obstacle to peace and has spoken of assassinating Gaza-based Hamas leaders. A stable, right-leaning government may have more credibility with the Israeli public than a fragile “national unity” government when it comes to making compromises for peace.
At a ceremony marking their alliance Wednesday, both Netanyahu and Lieberman attempted to send messages of moderation.
Lieberman for his part said, “At the end of the day my intention (is) to provide security and of course all of us we have a commitment, strong commitment, to the peace, to the final status agreement (with the Palestinians)”, said the Soviet-born party leader.
The make-up of his expanded coalition appears to make it even more unlikely that Netanyahu will make significant concessions to the Palestinians.
Netanyahu, through his lawyers, has denied any wrongdoing, and it was not immediately clear whether Israel’s attorney general, who is also examining the issue, would launch any criminal investigation.
A spokesman for Lieberman, a longtime politician who has previously served as foreign minister and lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, said the deal would be signed in parliament at 0800 GMT. “He is inciting against the Arab citizens”. These are just a few of the positions that could put former bar bouncer Avigdor Lieberman at odds with the military he now commands.
“If he has pretensions to reach the top, he’ll have to change”, he said.
Set to be sworn in next week, he will help oversee military policy and handle delicate security matters with worldwide allies. He’s been quoted advocating a “disproportionate” response against hostile acts by Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group and once talked about bombing Egypt’s Aswan dam.
Egyptian leaders have not forgotten those comments, and it remains unclear whether the appointment will affect relations.
But Lieberman’s biggest troubles could come at home with the army.
A controversial right-wing Israeli politician has agreed to throw his political weight into the country’s governing coalition. “The talks were held in the Israeli prime minister’s office with the participation of Netanyahu, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Lieberman”, Kol Israel reports.
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Yaalon was forced out after siding with his commanders in a series of disagreements with political hard-liners.
