In a dramatic twist, Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman denied Saturday night that he had agreed to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government, shortly after Netanyahu’s Likud party announced the merger.
Liberman said he was unhappy with Netanyahu’s offer to include him in the broad security cabinet and instead wanted a position in the newly created War Cabinet, which includes Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and incoming minister Benny Gantz.
“I am ready to join the War Cabinet to bring about victory as soon as possible. I have no intention of being the 38th minister in the government and being used as a fig leaf,” Liberman wrote on X.
“We support and will continue to support the government’s actions aimed at eliminating Hamas and Hamas leaders,” he added.
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The Likud had previously released a statement saying that Liberman would join the national emergency government and its security cabinet with immediate effect.
Liberman, a former defense minister, offered to join Netanyahu’s government the day after the war broke out on the condition that Israel would not settle for another round of limited fighting but rather seek to crush and eliminate Hamas. The former Netanyahu ally broke with the prime minister in 2019 and has been a bitter opponent ever since.
Liberman had previously made no demands regarding his role in the government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Acigdor Liberman talk in the Knesset plenary, October 24, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Under Likud’s vision, Liberman would have joined the security cabinet – but not the narrow war cabinet – as a minister without portfolio, and a second member from Yisrael Beytenu would have joined the government cabinet.
Liberman’s inclusion in the security cabinet is expected to further weaken the influence of far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, whose ministerial positions guarantee them seats in the security cabinet under Israeli law.
The back-and-forth comes after National Unity and its leader Gantz joined the government on Thursday, forming the high-level war cabinet with Netanyahu and Gallant.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid does not currently plan to join the national emergency government, a source close to leader Yesh Atid said, shortly after Likud announced that Yisrael Beytenu would join the government.
Gantz congratulated Liberman shortly after the announcement, apparently unaware that it had not yet been finalized.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with newly appointed Minister Benny Gantz at a special plenary session to introduce the new emergency government at the Knesset plenary in Jerusalem on October 12, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
“I welcome the inclusion of the leader of Israel’s Beytenu Party, Avigdor Liberman, in the government. Together we will be victorious,” Gantz wrote on X.
With Liberman, the emergency coalition would have consisted of 82 MKs – 64 from the original coalition; 12 from Gantz’s National Unity and 6 from Yisrael Beytenu.
On Sunday, Liberman offered to join the current government, but he conditioned his support on Netanyahu, Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi publicly announcing that the government intended to “eliminate the Hamas terrorist organization and all its terrorist leaders.”
In a statement to the press expanding his offer, Liberman said: “I understand that we face other challenges, including in the north against Hezbollah, prisoners in the Gaza Strip, the intentional community and other challenges.”
He added: “Our priorities must be clear – the elimination of Hamas and Hamas leaders… Only in this way can we restore the security of the residents of the south and the rest of Israel’s citizens and bring back our prisoners and missing people.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu, Gallant and National Security Council Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi have made it clear that Israel will seek regime change in Gaza, removing Hamas from power and neutralizing its military capabilities.