“In reality, he decides much less than most people think he does”.
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As a student at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, Lieberman was a bouncer at a student night club, later becoming its manager.
The move to hand the defence ministry to the 57-year-old hardliner has sparked deep concern among Israeli centrist and left-wing politicians, as well as among some of Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party colleagues.
Yet, Friedman joins other Israeli officials who are concerned about Israel’s historic development, including Major General Yair Golan, the army’s deputy chief of staff, who suggested that the same things that unfolded in Europe were beginning to unfold in Israel.
While Sharansky’s once-formidable party has since disappeared from the political stage, Lieberman’s has continued to grow.
Since winning an election past year, Netanyahu has said he would explore options to widen his one-seat majority in the legislature, and he began negotiations with Lieberman after coalition talks failed last week with the center-left Zionist Union, the main opposition party.
He had also pushed for the government to institute the death penalty for Palestinian “terrorists”, but backed away from the demand in the talks.
“If Israel consents to discuss a redrawing of its borders based on demographic criteria, it probably won’t be long before the Arabs of the Galilee (where they are now a majority) and of the Negev (where in certain areas there is an Arab majority) may also question their belonging to Israel”, she wrote.
Lieberman has continued to question the loyalty of Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up 20% of the population, and has campaigned to make them sign a loyalty pledge or have their citizenship revoked.
Lately, Liberman has been especially vocal in criticizing Netanyahu, calling for the Israeli leader to resign as recently as two weeks ago.
Lieberman is detested by the Palestinians, while Israeli centrists and left-wing politicians say his appointment signals a unsafe drift toward the far-right – even a step toward fascism for some.
Lieberman exited a political alliance with Netanyahu in 2014, arguing that the prime minister’s response to attacks out of the Gaza Strip were not muscular enough.
Unlike the three Orthodox Jewish parties already in Netanyahu’s cabinet, Lieberman views the idea of a God-given Promised Land is an antiquated concept.
The defence portfolio is widely seen as the second-most powerful in the government, overseeing an array of contracts, missions and activities in a country on a near-constant war footing. Lieberman himself is a West Bank settler. “Sometimes he plays into his own caricature”. Lieberman’s straight-talk wins points in some corners, says Perry.
The spokesman also restated the United States’ support for a negotiated end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians based on two states living side by side within agreed borders.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a deal to expand his coalition government by bringing in the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party and appointing its leader Avigdor Lieberman as the new defense minister, a government official said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Labor opposition leader Isaac Herzog said: “I’m sorry Netanyahu chose to blink and move the leadership helm in an extremist direction”.
Published on Tuesday, the State Comptroller Joseph Shapira’s report noted that many of Netanyahu’s trips – including several with his family – were funded by foreign governments, public bodies and businessmen.
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Former Labour prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak went further, saying Israel’s government “has been infected by the shoots of fascism”.
