Netanyahu, Liberman
Netanyahu, LibermanFlash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sharply attacked Yisrael Beytenu Chairman MK Avigdor Liberman Sunday, in a gathering for Likud activists at Prime Minister's Residence.

"I don't think a single percentage point of the voters who voted for Yisrael Beytenu would have voted for them if he had known that they plan to join the leftist parties to topple the Likud government,” he said.

"This is what changed the face of the campaign," Netanyahu accused. "For 42 days and nights, we had to work hard to put together a government, and it wasn't easy, especially because it was clear from a pretty early stage that we do not have Yisrael Beytenu. It was clear to our partners as well. Six mandates that were meant to be part of the national camp's coalition, moved to the other side.”

In reaction, Yisrael Beytenu issued a statement that said that the Prime Minister, who voted in favor of the Disengagement from Gaza, cannot claim to represent the Right.

"The Prime Minister voted in favor of the Disengagement and refused to include in the government's basic principles items like the destruction of the Hamas regime, death sentences for terrorists, a commitment to build homes in the settlement blocs and the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem, and agreed to renege as regards equality in bearing the security burden [i.e., forcing hareidi men to enlist to the IDF – ed.],” the party said.

"The whole way Prime Minister Netanyahu has been comporting himself, including the emotional plea about the Arabs streaming to the ballots and the apology for it immediately after the elections, and the embarrassing way he has waited for Labor to do him a favor and join his government, proves that Yisrael Beytenu is the only nationalistic right-wing alternative that exists on the political map,” Liberman's party added.