How Liberman is positioning himself to lead Israeli right
Avigdor Liberman's strategy to take leadership of the Israeli right wing was on display at a recent Yisrael Beitenu meeting.
One day after the deadly Jan. 8 vehicular attack in Jerusalem’s Armon HaNetziv neighborhood, Yisrael Beitenu's Knesset faction meeting focused on the strategic approach recently espoused by its chairman, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. The approach, which Liberman has deployed over the past few weeks, is intended to position him as leader of Israel’s moderate right.
In normal times, the comments Liberman made would have been perceived as signs of a bitter clash between him and another candidate for leadership of the right, Education Minister and HaBayit HaYehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett. While Liberman’s remarks were overshadowed by the tempest surrounding the criminal investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s various dealings, they nonetheless shed light on the struggle emerging among the Israeli right. It is now clear that it will be one of the most intriguing aspects of the next election cycle.
Meetings of Liberman’s faction are generally open to journalists. The chairman always starts with a detailed statement about his positions on pressing issues and then allows reporters to ask questions. This time, it was hard to ignore the common thread running through all the issues he raised with the media present, including Al-Monitor.
Liberman presented himself as the responsible adult in the room and the voice of reason on the right. He adopted the stance of officialdom, a leader who takes all of Israel’s strategic considerations into account. In other words, Avigdor Liberman 2017 is a far cry from the populist Avigdor Liberman of the 2015 elections, when he led a vicious, uninhibited campaign against Israel’s Arab population.
