Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

2 hours ago

US Senate Republicans Struggling to Unite on Trump’s $3.3 Trillion Tax-Cut Bill

2 hours ago

Musk Vows to Punish Lawmakers Who Back Trump’s Spending Bill

17 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years for $4.2 Million Tech Startup Fraud

18 hours ago

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

19 hours ago

Will Valadao Spoil Trump’s Plan for July 4th ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Signing?

20 hours ago

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

24 hours ago
Israel's Lieberman Stills Holds Keys to Future Government
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
February 24, 2020

Share

JERUSALEM — Israel finds itself in a familiar place after a tumultuous election campaign — with maverick politician Avigdor Lieberman still seemingly in control of the country’s fate.
The run-up to Israel’s third election in less than a year saw criminal charges filed against the prime minister, an American Mideast plan unveiled and various party mergers and machinations. Yet once again, opinion polls suggest that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his chief challenger Benny Gantz will be able to form a coalition without Lieberman.
Lieberman remains cagey about his intentions, raising the possibility his brinkmanship could end up forcing yet another election.
Lieberman’s nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party bolted from Netanyahu’s right-wing camp last year to spark the unprecedented stalemate in Israeli politics. Though Lieberman has all but ruled out sitting in a government led by his one-time mentor Netanyahu, saying his “era is over,” he has also driven a hard bargain with Gantz and has taken out campaign ads against the former military chief.
Lieberman insists a future coalition cannot include Arab-led parties, whose lawmakers he considers terrorist sympathizers because several have sided with Israel’s adversaries and refused to condemn attackers. He has also ruled out governing jointly with ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties that he says have long wielded disproportionate power that has harmed Israel’s secular majority and, in particular, his base of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Lieberman himself immigrated to Israel in the 1970s from the former Soviet republic of Moldova.
His preferred solution after the last election was to play matchmaker between Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party and Netanyahu’s Likud and coax them into a unity government.
But that option appears off the table even if the numbers don’t seem to add up to any other realistic alternative. Gantz refuses to partner with the indicted Netanyahu and Likud appears unwilling to part ways with its longtime leader, even as he goes on trial next month.

Photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
FILE – In this Feb. 16, 2020 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting, in Jerusalem, Israel finds itself in a familiar place after a tumultuous election campaign, with iconoclastic politician Avigdor Lieberman seemingly in control of the country’s fate. Opinion polls ahead of the March 2 vote show that neither Netanyahu nor his challenger Benny Gantz will be able to form a coalition government without him. Lieberman remains cagey about his intentions, raising the possibility his brinkmanship could end up forcing yet another election.(Gali Tibbon/Pool via AP, File )

Opinion Polls Show Likud and Blue and White in a Tight Race

Still, Lieberman, who declined interview requests, insists this vote will produce a breakthrough and he’ll be the one to dictate how it all plays out.
“The reality is different. There won’t be another election. This time we will pick a side,” said Eli Avidar, a lawmaker from Lieberman’s party who often serves as his voice to foreign audiences.

“The reality is different. There won’t be another election. This time we will pick a side.” — Eli Avidar, a lawmaker from Lieberman’s party who often serves as his voice to foreign audiences 
Avidar, a former diplomat, said that with Netanyahu heading to trial on March 17, other options have emerged across Israel’s fractured political landscape. For starters, Lieberman has indicated a newfound openness to sitting in government with left-wing parties he once shunned and has hinted that other nationalists could follow suit to give Gantz the edge he needs.
Either way, Avidar said that with Iran believed to be pursuing nuclear weapons and a huge deficit to overcome, there was simply too much at stake to risk dragging on the government paralysis any longer.
Israel’s attorney general charged Netanyahu in November on three counts of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The trial begins two weeks after the election, and just as the new parliament is sworn in and coalition negotiations will be getting under way.
Opinion polls show Likud and Blue and White in a tight race. Unless Likud somehow defies the polls and emerges as the most dominant party, Netanyahu’s precarious legal position will make it difficult for him to form a new coalition.
“It’s not a game,” Avidar said. “The minute Netanyahu shows up to court people will finally realize that it’s over for him and it’s time to move on.”
If this indeed is the end of the road for Netanyahu, it would carry no small degree of irony that Lieberman was the one to finally push him out.
Lieberman started out as a top Netanyahu aide in the 1990s and as Netanyahu’s chief of staff during his first term in office later that decade. He then embarked on a political career of his own as a nationalist hard-liner and champion of fellow former Soviet Union immigrants. Over the next two decades, the pair enjoyed a roller-coaster relationship in which Lieberman held a series of senior Cabinet posts under Netanyahu and often served as a staunch partner and defender, while occasionally emerging as a rival, critic and thorn in Netanyahu’s side.

Lieberman May Have Overplayed His Hand

Lieberman resigned as defense minister in 2018 because Netanyahu kept blocking his plans to strike hard against Gaza militants. He passed up the chance to return to the post following last April’s election when he refused to join Netanyahu’s emerging coalition and forced the do-over vote. He stuck to his guns after the September vote as well and helped prevent Netanyahu from securing the parliamentary immunity he sought to avoid an embarrassing trial.
If, as polls forecast, Netanyahu fails to secure a 61-seat majority in Israel’s parliament, Israel’s longest-ever leader may be out of cards to play.
With another deadlock looming, Lieberman leaves observers pondering what he ultimately hopes to achieve.
Israeli commentator Nahum Barnea said he believes Lieberman isn’t driven by political ambition at this stage, noting he has already held a number of senior Cabinet posts. “There’s nothing out there that truly charms him,” he said. “I think he mostly wants to prove that Israel can have a government without Netanyahu.”
The 61-year-old Lieberman derives most ofhispower from a devout following of both immigrants and native-born Israelis drawn to his straight-talking persona and his dual nationalist-secular credo. Perhaps more than any other Israeli political leader, he exercises complete control over his party. That gives him great leverage in coalition negotiations.
But Barnea says Lieberman may have overplayed his hand by “creating too many enemies” in ruling out both the Arab-led and ultra-Orthodox parties. Even so, polls still have his party as a tipping point that could block Netanyahu from staying in power.
“Lieberman started out as the kingmaker, but he turned into the king-slayer,” Barnea said.
[activecampaign form=29]

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Investigate Deadly Shooting Near Bethlehem Center

DON'T MISS

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

DON'T MISS

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

DON'T MISS

Musk Promises a New Political Party if the GOP Bill Passes

DON'T MISS

Dollar Gains Ground Against Major Peers After Better-Than-Expected US Jobs Data

DON'T MISS

A Path Forward on Immigration Reform That Strengthens America

DON'T MISS

France Shuts Schools, Italy Limits Outdoor Work as Heatwave Grips Europe

DON'T MISS

Powell Reiterates Fed Will Wait for More Data Before Cutting Rates

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Investigate Morning Shooting Outside Bethlehem Center

DON'T MISS

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

935 People Killed in Israeli Strikes on Iran, Official Says

UP NEXT

US Revokes Visas for Bob Vylan After Music Duo’s Glastonbury Chants

UP NEXT

Israel Acknowledges Palestinian Civilians Harmed at Gaza Aid Sites, Says ‘Lessons Learned’

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Israel Faces Genocide Accusations Amid Gaza Food Aid Killings

UP NEXT

Iran-Linked Hackers May Target US Firms and Critical Infrastructure, US Government Warns

UP NEXT

Israel Strikes Pound Gaza, Killing 60, Ahead of US Talks on Ceasefire

UP NEXT

US to Restart Trade Negotiations With Canada Immediately, White House Says

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Order Related to Syria Sanctions Easing, CBS News Reports

Musk Promises a New Political Party if the GOP Bill Passes

38 minutes ago

Dollar Gains Ground Against Major Peers After Better-Than-Expected US Jobs Data

53 minutes ago

A Path Forward on Immigration Reform That Strengthens America

55 minutes ago

France Shuts Schools, Italy Limits Outdoor Work as Heatwave Grips Europe

56 minutes ago

Powell Reiterates Fed Will Wait for More Data Before Cutting Rates

1 hour ago

Visalia Police Investigate Morning Shooting Outside Bethlehem Center

1 hour ago

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

2 hours ago

US Senate Republicans Struggling to Unite on Trump’s $3.3 Trillion Tax-Cut Bill

2 hours ago

Trump Escalates Feud With Musk, Threatens Tesla, SpaceX Support

2 hours ago

Clovis Police Seek Public’s Help in Finding Missing 82-Year-Old Woman

16 hours ago

Visalia Police Investigate Deadly Shooting Near Bethlehem Center

A man died after being shot multiple times Tuesday morning outside the Bethlehem Center on Dinuba Boulevard, authorities said. Officers wit...

49 seconds ago

A 36-year-old man died after being shot multiple times outside the Bethlehem Center in Visalia, prompting an active homicide investigation on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (Visalia PD)
49 seconds ago

Visalia Police Investigate Deadly Shooting Near Bethlehem Center

President Donald Trump arrives at a dinner for NATO heads of state and governments hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Dutch Queen Maxima, on the sidelines of a NATO Summit, at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, Netherlands June 24, 2025. (Reuters/Toby Melville)
5 minutes ago

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

President Donald Trump and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speak with the media at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on the day of the opening of a temporary migrant detention center informally known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in Ochopee, Florida, U.S., July 1, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
35 minutes ago

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

Tesla CEO Elon Musk greets U.S. President Donald Trump as they attend the NCAA men's wrestling championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., March 22, 2025. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo)
38 minutes ago

Musk Promises a New Political Party if the GOP Bill Passes

U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 19, 2025. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
53 minutes ago

Dollar Gains Ground Against Major Peers After Better-Than-Expected US Jobs Data

55 minutes ago

A Path Forward on Immigration Reform That Strengthens America

A tourist cools off in the Trocadero Fountain next to the Eiffel Tower as an early summer heatwave hits Paris, France, July 1, 2025. (Reuters/Tom Nicholson)
56 minutes ago

France Shuts Schools, Italy Limits Outdoor Work as Heatwave Grips Europe

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress," on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 24, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Powell Reiterates Fed Will Wait for More Data Before Cutting Rates

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend