Today, July 7, 2014, the Israeli Foreign Minister and Beitenu party leader, Avigdor Lieberman, announced at a press conference held at the Israeli house of parliament, the Knesset, that his differences with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu no longer enabled co-operation between them. Lieberman said that the split was not the result of political differences, but the result of disagreements over how to react to the increased tensions between Israel and Palestine. At the same time, Avigdor Lieberman said that he would not seek early elections and did not intend to leave the coalition government. In fact, what he intended to end was the Likud-Beitenu faction and the partnership between him and the prime minister. Lieberman said: “The partnership did not work during the elections, it did not work after the elections and, to this day, there were quite a few technical issues. When technical issues turn to fundamental ones, there is no point in continuing [the partnership].”
The 31-seat faction dissolved, Netanyahu’s Likud will control 20 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Lieberman’s Beitenu 11 seats.
Lieberman attacked Netanyahu’s handling of acts perpetrated by Israeli Arabs as well as by Palestinians from the Gaza strip. According to Haaretz, the foreign minister told the PM that he had “promised to deal a harsh blow on Hamas, but nothing came of it and they continue to shoot at citizens.”
However, how can you end a partnership but remain in the same coalition government? Lieberman stressed that the Beitenu ministers would maintain their portfolios. Is it a tempest in a tea pot? Is Lieberman making a lot of wind to gain back lost support from voters? And if so, will this strategy work? Time will tell.
The entire region is in turmoil. Partly responsible is Obama’s failed Syria policy, his failed Iraq policy, to which one may soon have to add his failed Afghanistan policy. In Afghanistan, the US president is about to repeat his Iraq policy error of an early pull-out of US troops, which risks to destabilize a fragile government.
In addition, the Egyptian President Al Sisi is moving in the wrong direction, whereas in Palestine, a new government of technocrats has been formed. However, the unity may only last until the presidential and parliamentary election.
As for the trigger of the current unrest in the Israel-Palestine region, let’s not forget that first three Israeli teenagers had been abducted and killed. In response, Jewish extremists brutally murdered a 16-year old boy, triggering riots in East Jerusalem and Arab towns across Israel.
The Israeli security service Shin Bet announced on July 6, 2014 the arrest of six Jewish people suspected to be involved in the kidnapping and subsequent, brutal murder of the Muslim boy. In this regard, PM Netanyahu has found the right words and actions. No terrorist acts can be tolerated, whether perpetrated by Muslim or Jewish extremists.
Too many people, both on the Palestinian and on the Israeli side, try to sabotage any peaceful solution of the regional conflict.
On July 6, 2014 the Israeli army attacked several “concealed rocket launchers across the Gaza Strip”, killing several people. It was a response to a series of mortar and rocket attacks coming from the Gaza strip earlier that day.
Netanyahu himself as well as his coalition government are obstacles to peace. His settlement policy as well as his missed chances to strike a deal for a durable peace with former Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad may come to haunt him now.
Before the current crisis, Netanyahu’s position as PM looked rock-solid. His position is now somewhat weakened. Within his coalition government, Naftali Bennet, Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni are not exactly his best political friends. With Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu (partly) loses the closest supporter of his overall policy. Is this just temporary or the beginning of the end of Netanyahu’s reign in Israel? For the moment, no serious contender seems to be in sight. For the moment, the politicians mentioned above are containing each other.
Today, Avigdor Lieberman stated “fundamental disagreements” that do “not allow for a future partnership.” The bond is no longer strong enough to maintain the Likud-Beitenu faction, but is strong enough to maintain a coalition government? The Israeli political bazaar may have his own rules, but there are limits to the proper functioning of any government.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2019. Photo: US State Department. This photo is in the public domain.
Article added on July 7, 2014 at 18:05 CET
