Liberman warns unity govt would give Netanyahu 70 mandates

Yisrael Beiteinu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman laid out his red lines for the next government this morning in an interview with 103fm, explaining why he is drawing a hard boundary on coalition composition and warning the opposition against what he called a dangerous trap.

Asked why he recently dubbed Yisrael party leader Gadi Eisenkot "Benny Gantz 2.0," he made his position clear: "I want us to form a Zionist government, only from Zionist parties. All this talk about a minority government is a dangerous trap." He added, "After October 7, the Israeli public moved to the right, and in elections you have to pull three to four mandates from bloc to bloc so that the bloc of those who serve defeats the bloc of those who dodge."

He stressed the importance of governmental stability and warned against compromises in the structure of the next government: "A minority government is the most unstable thing, and such a government will not last long. Within a short time you'll go back to elections and you'll bring Bibi and company back with 70 mandates."

Toward the end of his remarks, the Yisrael Beiteinu chairman sharpened the distinction between himself and his potential partners in the political camp, ruling out reliance on elements that refuse to align with a clear Zionist line: "So whoever wants to lean on someone who defines Hamas as a charity organization, let them do it. I won't."