Lieberman rejects reliance on Arab parties
Lieberman argued that encouraging separatism was pushing Israeli society toward a Lebanese model. He cited Osama Saadi’s dedication of the election victory to people in East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to prisoners in Israeli jails. Lieberman characterized those prisoners as Nukhba terrorists who had murdered, raped and burned people alive.
He said he had received numerous messages from left-wing voters who had not supported him, urging him to join a coalition with the Arab parties.
Explaining his opposition, Lieberman invoked peace activists Vivian Silver and Oded Lifshitz. He said Silver had been burned alive and that Lifshitz, who had driven Gazans to Israeli hospitals, had been held captive while wounded and murdered despite his captors knowing who he was.
Lieberman also alleged that the Palestinian Authority was interfering in Israeli politics and was behind Ra’am and the Joint List. He said this connection could not be tolerated and described alleged Palestinian Authority funding to encourage election participation as a new scandal involving the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).
He predicted that a minority government would last less than a year and that Netanyahu would then return with 70 Knesset seats. Lieberman also said he would not support Netanyahu for president.
Election dispute deepens between Eisenkot and Likud
Justice Solberg rejected Likud’s request, and election results will be published as scheduled.
Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of Yashar! with Eisenkot, accused Likud and Netanyahu of conducting a destructive and aggressive campaign to delegitimize the election results and the Central Elections Committee. He described it as a direct attack on Israeli democracy and argued that it demonstrated the danger of their continued control of government and key positions of authority.
Eisenkot portrayed the campaign as a response to electoral defeat by leaders accustomed to acting without restraint. He said those days were over and that attempts to intimidate those seeking change underestimated his determination, that of his partners and their commitment to Israeli citizens.
Likud accused Eisenkot of trying to prevent the truth from emerging about serious suspicions presented to Justice Solberg concerning foreign interference in Israeli elections from a national security perspective.
The party said Lieberman’s allegations intensified those suspicions and demanded that he submit any information he held to the Central Elections Committee, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the head of the Shin Bet.
Shas lawmakers participated this evening in a meeting with Netanyahu concerning allegations of election fraud in the Arab sector, remaining in his bloc for now.
Netanyahu said the Israeli public did not want a government dependent on Ra’am and the Joint List, which he accused of supporting terrorism and denying the existence of the Jewish state. He said he had sought a broad national government from the outset.
He argued that a clear majority of Jewish voters had chosen Likud as the largest party and him to lead the next government.
Netanyahu said he wanted a broad government with his existing partners and any other party willing to join that did not support terrorism. He expressed openness to discussions while insisting that he would lead the government.
