
The chairman of the Yisrael Beytenu party, Avigdor Liberman, intends to take the Finance Ministry in Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid’s unity government, and is convinced there will be a rebellion within the Likud after the party moves into the opposition.
In an interview with journalist Nachum Barnea of the Yediot Aharonot newspaper, Liberman said,
“I am well connected to the Likud. I have more friends and connections there than Netanyahu has. I tell you, the unrest against him is starting to bubble. Members of the Central Committee are talking. None of the Knesset members are speaking publicly, but you need to hear what they are saying in the conversations in the lobby behind the plenary.”
“Everyone except him would understand that he is the obstacle, and step aside; everyone would understand that if he had stepped aside, the Likud would have formed a government within a week, without a rotation. Once they internalize that they are in the opposition, and not for a month but for a long time, once we pass the law that says a Knesset member with an indictment cannot form a government – the riots will begin there.”
Liberman believes that the Bennett-Lapid government will last, saying,
“Bennett, a Prime Minister with seven seats, has an interest in maintaining it. Lapid, who wants to be Prime Minister in two years’ time, has the same interest. Same goes for [Merav] Michaeli and [Nitzan] Horowitz, who will be ministers for the first time.”
The Yisrael Beytenu chairman explained why it is so important for him to end Netanyahu’s time in office.
“Let us take my resignation from the post of Defense Minister. He and I had clear agreements about the Gaza Strip. One day I asked someone who has known Netanyahu for more years than me, ‘Say, why is he against everything I suggest?’ and he replied, ‘Are you an idiot? If you eliminate Haniyeh, you will be Prime Minister. He will not let you.’”
“In 1995, we were in the opposition. Netanyahu decided to support the Arabs’ motion of no confidence regarding the expropriation of land in eastern Jerusalem. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked him. ‘When there is an opportunity to topple a government, you don’t ask questions,’ he replied. Take his support for the Disengagement; take the evacuation of the Bedouin from Khan Al-Ahmar. As Defense Minister, I decide to evacuate. 24 hours before the evacuation, he torpedoes it. I do not understand the connection between Netanyahu and the right: He is not right-wing – he is an opportunist.”
“The coalition of change will be formed solely thanks to him. It will include those who worked with him, Sa’ar and Elkin, Bennett and Shaked, Lapid and Gantz, Hendel and Hauser. Everyone has gained experience and learned lessons. None of them is willing to work with him: His word means nothing,” Liberman said.
Source: Arutz Sheva