After the launch of Avigdor Liberman’s new 2014 persona, all we have left to do is find out what road the foreign minister will take to realize his dream of becoming the prime minister of Israel, to where he emigrated in 1978 from the Soviet Union at age 20. Liberman faces a simple dilemma: Either he returns to his independent Yisrael Beitenu Party to scrape up some 20 seats out of the 120-seat parliament — which is not an impossible feat — or he will dismantle his own party and join the Likud Party to seize control of the ruling party from within, thus earning a ready-made political platform.

Liberman joined the Likud ranks as soon as he arrived in Israel, serving as the party’s director-general when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took control of it in 1993. He still holds onto many important power bases in that party, among its constituents as well as in the party’s caucus. That said, Liberman faces fierce opposition inside the Likud from all those who consider his return as jeopardizing their own standing and future. Minister of the Interior Gideon Sa’ar, Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon, Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom and maybe even Minister for Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz are hoping to succeed Netanyahu some day. There are also the various radical elements, chief among them Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, Coalition Chairman Yariv Levin and others who construe Liberman’s moderate political views and his surprising pragmatism to be a threat to them. The latter, combined with the settlers, who make up many of the Likud constituents, will see Liberman as a foreign element that should be prevented from making a “hostile takeover” of the party.

Before the 2013 elections and following a decision that rocked the political establishment, Netanyahu and Liberman called a news conference, announcing that the Likud and Yisrael Beitenu parties would run in a joint slate called “Likud Beitenu." Back then, Liberman predicted that the joint slate would garner as many as 45 seats (prior to the election they had 42 seats together; 27 for Likud and 15 for Liberman.) The foreign minister’s prophecy proved wrong. The joint party suffered a resounding defeat, raking in only 31 seats (thus posting a loss of 11 seats compared to what they had before.) Yet, that was the most successful abortive move in the history of Israel’s politics, since it awarded Netanyahu another term as prime minister. Had Netanyahu not joined forces with Liberman, he very well could have lost the elections. The rest is history.

For the past month and nearly under the radar, Liberman has been campaigning among his activists on the ground ahead of the decision he would be expected to make in early March. Two weeks ago, he visited the town of Katzrin in the Golan Heights, where all his activists in the north got together. At his request, he was presented with a carefully crafted and highly detailed plan as well as a list of 100 key activists. Each one of them pledged to sign up 400 Israelis to the Likud Party. The objective of this plan is to join the Likud and sign up on Liberman’s behalf an overwhelming number of 40,000 new members. This is a tall order that will tilt the balance of power within the Likud, making Liberman the strongest man in the party overnight.