Avigdor Liberman blames Likud for political stalemate
Liberman also complained that the Likud has repeatedly accused him of being willing to support a minority left-wing government.
By GIL HOFFMANAvigdor Liberman, chairman of Yisrael Beytenu in conversation with the Jerusalem Post(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who is thought to be a political kingmaker, lashed out at the Likud on Tuesday, blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party for the current political impasse.Speaking following a tour of Herodion National Park with his MKs, Liberman lamented that the Likud did not agree to his request last week to begin immediate negotiations with Blue and White and Yisrael Beytenu over the policies of the next government.“We are still waiting for a response from the Likud’s negotiating team to our request to start meeting and drafting guidelines acceptable to the majority of the people of Israel,” Liberman said. “Unfortunately the answer has still not come, but we have time and patience, so we will wait.”Liberman also complained that the Likud has repeatedly accused him of being willing to support a minority left-wing government, with the Joint Arab List and Yisrael Beytenu providing a political safety net from outside the coalition.“The only one who has collaborated with the Arab MKs over the years since [the late Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser] Arafat and Wye Plantation is Netanyahu,” Liberman said.He pointed out that Netanyahu got the support of Arab MKs for dispersing the Knesset when he failed to form a government after the April election and in the vote for State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman.Liberman called on Netanyahu to break up the Likud’s political bloc with right-wing and religious parties.
