With days to go before the election, MK Avigdor Liberman, chairman of Yisrael Beiteinu, sat down with Kikar HaShabbat's Yishai Cohen and laid out his uncompromising position against forming a minority government, even as a temporary solution for a transition period. The full interview airs tonight on Kikar HaShabbat.
On the question of principle, Liberman clarified that he will not lend his hand to any coalition that relies on Arab MKs for support. "To lean on MKs who said after October 7 that Hamas is a charity organisation, or who accuse IDF soldiers, not Hamas, IDF soldiers, of murder and crimes against humanity... I cannot, morally, see any possibility of relying on those MKs, whether in Ra'am or in the Joint List, including Ofer Cassif," he said.
"A transition government like that will bring Deri and Goldknopf to 70 mandates"
On the practical level, the Yisrael Beiteinu chairman warned that a minority government is a guaranteed recipe for a dramatic surge by the chareidi parties and the Netanyahu bloc in the next election.
"On the practical level, a minority government is a very unstable government. Every single MK can extort, can drive you crazy, can threaten the coalition. It is clear that a coalition like that will not survive for long. After a transition government like that, you go back to elections - and then Goldknopf, Deri and Bibi together will already reach 70 mandates! If you set up a minority government on the votes of Yasser Hujayrat and Ofer Cassif for an interim period, a minority government, no matter for how long — the moment you go back to elections, you catapult them... the bloc of draft-dodgers," Liberman said.
Asked about polling data showing the opposition cannot reach 61 seats without the Arab parties, Liberman dismissed the forecasts outright. "I am telling you that I am certain we will bring a solid majority, a real majority, a meaningful majority. There is no such thing! I know the field. The four parties, the bloc of those who serve, we will bring a solid majority. All this talk about a minority government projects weakness and defeatism."
