UTJ's Litzman willing to sit with Liberman, despite 'split personality'
In an interview, the deputy health minister said he is suspicious of Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman.
By OMRI RONYa'acov Litzman(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Deputy Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman said he would be willing to sit with Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman in the same government if given no choice, though he is suspicious of him.In an interview with the Hebrew daily lsrael Hayom, Litzman added that in his opinion, Liberman has a split personality."There's Avigdor, and there's Ivet (Liberman's name in Russian)," he said. "Avigdor is a Jewish name, a good name. Avigdor is willing to work with us and agrees to the haredi IDF draft bill that we agreed upon, goes with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, and all is well."Ivet is a fickle politician," he continued, "He has a split personality, unpredictable. Liberman once begged us before the municipality elections to work together to make Moshe Lion the mayor of Jerusalem, then he flipped on us. I know of institutions that treat split personality disorder."And yet, despite Litzman's attack on Liberman, he claimed that he is still willing to sit with him in a government, if given no choice. With the government negotiations stuck in limbo, Litzman claimed that someone has to bend in order for a government to be formed: that some compromises have to be made."It's either someone breaks, or we go to another election." He later added, however, that Netanyahu's right-wing bloc will not budge.Further adding on previous statements that the Ulrta-Orthodox parties will support the bloc "to the death," Litzman said that, "We all understand that the fact the bloc exists could lead to another election."When asked about the state of the healthcare system in Israel, he said: "It’s better than it used to be, but not quite as good as I would expect; we’re working to make it better. I won’t deny there are problems: There’s a lack of beds; we need more beds. I went to the prime minister and the finance minister and said ‘we need more budget, there’s no money.' They both agreed – and meanwhile, we’re going to elections again and everything is stuck."The healthcare system isn’t collapsing, definitely not," he said. "We have better emergency departments than the US; they’re crowded, but we’re taking care of it."
Following the second round of elections on September 17, both sides of the political spectrum – the Center-Left led by Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and the Right led by Netanyahu – have received a similar number of votes, with Liberman being a wildcard, calling on the two sides to form a unity government, with or without him. So far, neither side has been able to form a government. Netanyahu received the mandate first, after forming a right-wing bloc, comprised of the Likud, the ultra-Orthodox parties and several others such as Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked’s New Right. Netanyahu's bloc handles the negotiations as a single entity, while Liberman is refusing to sit with the ultra-Orthodox parties, and Gantz is unwilling to sit with Netanyahu given his legal woes.Currently, Gantz still holds the mandate to form the government for the next two weeks, with negotiations still not making any meaningful progress.
