Knesset Member Israel Hasson shudders each time anew when he encounters [former Foreign Minister] Avigdor Liberman’s insulting attitude toward Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen. But what is even more grave, in Hasson’s opinion, is the silence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who says nothing while his Likud-Beiteinu partner Liberman turns Abu Mazen into his private punching bag. This, Hasson feels, is the main barrier preventing the renewal of negotiations with the Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Liberman passed up no opportunities in the last four years to irk Abu Mazen without anyone attempting to restrain him. Liberman belittled him, called for his dismissal, or just “looked forward to his retirement.” “Liberman can say what he wants, but the bigger problem is the prime minister’s silence that tacitly backed him up,” said Hasson this week in an interview with Al-Monitor. “Without even addressing the issue of ‘Arab honor’ and basic manners, Liberman’s statements and Bibi’s silence expressed arrogance and a feeling of euphoria . Since when does the state of Israel talk this way to a leader? The attitude toward Abu Mazen was humiliating, I thought. What did they expect of him — that after the Foreign Minister says, authoritatively and with [Netanyahu’s tacit] permission, that Abu Mazen is not relevant and should be dumped — that Abu Mazen will enter the negotiating room with a smile on his face?”

Hasson served for 22 years in the highest ranks of the Shin Bet, including two intifadas, until he retired to the business world. Later on, he entered political life with the help of the same person he now criticizes so severely: Avigdor Liberman. Hasson was placed at the top of the Yisrael Beiteinu list for the 17th Knesset, but after a few years he fell out with Liberman and left for Kadima. In the recent elections, he joined Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz for what at first seemed a suicidal mission, but against all odds he succeeded in entering the Knesset again, this time as a member of a tiny party with two mandates. Not so pleasant, but for someone who came to Israel from Syria at age 7 with his family, via a long and exhausting journey by foot that went through Turkey, Kadima’s disintegration is only a small bump on a very long road. In recent years, Hasson was involved in quiet contacts with the Palestinians (even as a Knesset Member in the opposition). He was also involved in the freeing of American Jew Ilan Grapel from an Egyptian prison; Grapel had been accused of espionage.

On the background of President Barack Obama’s imminent visit to Israel, and towards the establishment of Netanyahu’s third government, Hasson has a few insights into the situation in the area; it’s a good idea to listen to what he has to say.