Liberman says he would never trust opposition partner with defense portfolio

Avigdor Liberman, chairman of Israel’s Yisrael Beitenu Party, said during a public appearance on Monday evening that under no circumstances should members of the Democrats Party be given security or judiciary portfolios in the event the opposition defeats the Netanyahu government at the polls on Oct. 27.

“I said very clearly: no and no. That the security, internal security or the judiciary portfolios should be in their hands, that is simply unacceptable,” said Liberman, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News.

Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, responded that Liberman was serving the interests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “incitement campaign” against himself and his party.

Although Liberman and Golan are both members of the opposition seeking to unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they appeared to be on opposite sides as they exchanged barbs on Monday.

Referring to Yonatan Urich, a senior media adviser and spokesman for Netanyahu and the Likud, Golan told Lieberman, “Urich says that the Democrats are illegitimate because he wants to erase seats from the ‘Change Bloc’ and return Netanyahu to power. Instead of playing ‘Urich said,’ it’s time to stop echoing his messages.”

The coalition has accused the Democrats Party, a fusion of the Labor and Meretz parties, of extremism as many of its candidates have professed radical positions not held by the Israeli mainstream.

“I would be happy to support [Golan], if he would just keep quiet. That’s his biggest contribution to our victory,” said Liberman, arguing that statements by Golan’s party are hurting the opposition’s chances. The Democrats Party was raising controversial issues, such as the creation of a Palestinian state and the evacuation of Jewish settlements, which only help Netanyahu’s reelection campaign, he said.

There are enough topics of agreement the opposition parties can focus on, such as term limits for the prime minister, a Haredi conscription law and establishing a constitution, he added.

“We can fight now and give Netanyahu another term. Or we can work as a bloc, win, and then argue in the government. We choose victory,” he said.

Liberman agreed that the opposition would be successful.

“It will be a sweeping victory. We will win, and by a large margin,” he said. He predicted the opposition would attract some Likud defectors. Only Netanyahu himself would never be accepted, he added. “As far as I’m concerned, in my government he couldn’t even be a minister for regional cooperation.”

Liberman, once a close confidante of Netanyahu, has turned into a bitter foe over the years.

The Likud weighed in on the Golan-Liberman exchange on Tuesday via a post on the party’s X account.

Focusing on Golan’s comments about “incitement,” the Likud noted that Golan was the one who had claimed Israel “kills babies as a hobby,” called the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria “subhuman” and compared trends in Israeli society to those in Nazi Germany.

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