Avigdor Liberman
Avigdor LibermanNoam Revkin Fenton/Flash 90

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, Chairman of Yisrael Beytenu, said Saturday that he does not rule out joining a coalition with the Labor party after it united with Hatnua, but criticized the rotation agreement between the two parties.

Speaking at a live interview event in Tel Aviv, Liberman said that the unification between Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua and Labor, led by Yitzchak Herzog, is “a healthy, proper, helpful and correct one for the political system, since it is better to form large blocs and not shreds of parties — but there was a missed opportunity here, because instead of talking about responsibility, they spoke about a rotation between them.”

Pundits have said that the rotation agreement between Herzog and Livni makes it somewhat less likely that Liberman would join them, because it turns him into the number 3 man in the coalition instead of the number 2 man.

Liberman said: “I belong to the camp of common sense — the true, serious, responsible and thoughtful national camp. Not everything needs to revolve around slogans, clichés and a division along labels of left and right… there is no left, center and right… there are people who work out of thoughtfulness, responsibility and logic.”

Regarding a possible coalition with Herzog and Livni, he added: “I do not rule out anybody, although we do not belong to the same group and camp that keeps on shouting out ‘anyone but Bibi.’ I have appreciation for the prime minister. I have known him for a long time and have worked with him for many years. I don’t rule him out either… ruling out a person, out of personal motives is not to the point… there is no place for ruling out people on a personal basis.”