Sharon Gal
Sharon GalIsaac Harari/Flash 90

Former Yisrael Beytenu MK Sharon Gal, who unexpectedly resigned from the Knesset just a short time after becoming an MK, on Friday expressed confidence that Avigdor Liberman would have success as Defense Minister.

“I am 100 percent confident that Liberman will be a responsible Defense Minister,” Gal told Channel 10 News, adding, “Israel elected a rightist-nationalist government and finally we can see a change in this direction, Liberman is the man to do it."

“I appreciate the fact that [Prime Minister Netanyahu and Liberman] were able to forget and put aside their differences and personal problems for the sake of national interests,” he continued, before noting that last year, during the negotiations between Yisrael Beytenu and the Likud on the possibility of Yisrael Beytenu joining the coalition after the elections, none of the party’s demands and principles were met.

“There was a sense of disrespect in the air. The current negotiations have dramatic achievements on the economic level, public housing and in particular about defense issues,” said Gal, who also had criticism for former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, in particular with regards to his ongoing criticism of soldier Elor Azariya, who is on trial over the shooting of a wounded soldier in Hevron.

“It makes no sense that a Defense Minister in Israel shows up on the Knesset podium, before the investigation is completed and is still in progress, and criticizes the soldier. How can a fair trial be conducted in such an atmosphere? Everyone is entitled to a fair and just trial,” he said.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)