Will Liberman save Israel’s democracy?
Whatever his motives, this coming September Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman could secure his place in history as the politician who successfully saved Israel from extreme religiosity and separated a criminal suspect from the prime minister’s seat.
The following comes with a bold font caution — it is only relevant to the time of its writing, i.e., the election campaign for the 22nd Knesset. The way things look now, Knesset member Avigdor Liberman might turn out to be the leader of a revolution on Israel’s political right. He is not suggesting any deviation from the conservative camp’s position on the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nor has Liberman undergone “conversion therapy” to become a fan of Israel’s Arab or leftist citizens. He adheres to his aggressive approach to the conflict with the Palestinians and continues to support the settlement enterprise.
So what is his revolution about? Liberman is shaking the foundations of the decades-old alliance between Israel’s democratic, old-school right wing and the newer, fundamentalist pro-settlement right. At the same time, Liberman is aligning himself with the opposition Blue and White faction, whose central plank is removing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office and distancing itself from the corruption charges dogging him.
By undermining Netanyahu’s legitimacy as leader of the “national camp,” Liberman is unraveling the ties binding the prime minister’s so-called natural partners — the secular right, religious Zionism and the ultra-Orthodox parties. For example, he attacks the “Smotriches” — a reference to Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich of the fundamentalist, pro-settler United Right party — for supporting what he calls “wimpy” government policy on the Palestinian issue, thereby tainting the coalition parties (the Likud and the United Right) as Netanyahu puppets. Liberman argues that Netanyahu and his current caretaker government partners are giving into Hamas, refusing to carry out the court-sanctioned evacuation of the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar and dragging their feet on legislating the death penalty for terrorists.
His tactics ahead of the Sept. 17 elections present right-wing voters with three choices. One is messianic in nature, the other is weak and hollow and the third is his Yisrael Beitenu (Hebrew for Israel is our home). His party, Liberman claims, is “the only force that can make the Likud and Blue and White agree to a formula for which most Israelis yearn — a national, liberal government! Not a state ruled by ultra-Orthodox and fundamentalist rabbis.”
