“Instead of fighting against terrorism, this government is paying protection money to terrorists. It’s happening right now.” In an interview with Al-Monitor, Avigdor Liberman, the chairman of Yisrael Beitenu, leveled this charge against Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s decision to transfer half a billion shekels ($127 million) to the Palestinian Authority. Kahlon’s gesture is intended to prevent a complete collapse of the PA and quiet down the current wave of terrorism.
Kahlon’s decision was first revealed by daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Feb. 26. Liberman could not have asked for a better time to hammer more nails into the right-wing government’s coffin. At a speech he delivered just one day earlier at a Yisrael Beitenu conference at the Jerusalem Convention Hall, he introduced his own “10-point program” to stop the wave of terror. After calling for the reinstitution of Israel’s targeted assassination strategy of wanted terrorists, his second point was to stop the transfer of all funds to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Less than a day later, Kahlon was making headlines with his own news, which demanded a response. Only, Liberman had already pre-empted him.
These are good days for the former foreign minister, who rose like a phoenix from the corruption scandal that plagued Yisrael Beitenu and threatened to tear down the party that he had built with his own two hands. He teetered on the electoral threshold throughout the last election campaign, only to cross it with six seats. Despite everyone’s predictions, he gave up the Foreign Ministry and decided to join the opposition. So far, his decision has proven itself as the right one for him. He has been climbing in the polls ever since and is practically already waging a new election campaign. Actually, the Yisrael Beitenu conference looked more like the launching of a new campaign. It had a new slogan — “Only Liberman can bring security” — and it featured a bellicose speech about defense that veered sharply to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right. Just as in his previous campaigns, Liberman focused yet again on a topic that mostly concerns Israelis. He then went on to mark himself as the next defense minister.
Liberman spoke to Al-Monitor about his "10-point program." The text of the interview follows:
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
