Tensions are high between Yisrael Beiteinu party chief Avigdor Lieberman and Likud party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, and the two parties have begun publicly sniping at each other.
Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe “Bogey” Ya'alon, who is in the eighth slot in Likud's Knesset list, said in a weekend interview that Avigdor Lieberman “appeals to the base instincts [yetzarim] and this frightens me.” Lieberman's utterances concerning Israel's Arabs are unacceptable because “one cannot put a stain on all of the Arabs residing in Israel,” he explained.
Lieberman has called Arab Knesset Members "terrorists" and told them “we will deal with you as we dealt with Hamas.”
Ya'alon said, however, that he would not oppose Yisrael Beiteinu's joining a Likud-led coalition, because “in the end, the Prime Minister is the one who determines the government's policies.”
'Lies and Misrepresentations'
Yisrael Beiteinu fired back and said that “Ya'alon's reaction indicates that he is under pressure and in a state of distress, probably because he fears losing the post of Defense Minister for which he joined Likud.” The party explained that “in Yisrael Beiteinu, the dividing line does not pass between Jews and Arabs but between supporters of terror and opponents of terror." The statement added: “Yaalon's lies and misrepresentations are regrettable and we hope that they were not uttered with the consent of the Likud's chairman.”
The background for the discord between Lieberman and Netanyahu, according to pundits, is Yisrael Beiteinu's growing popularity in the polls, and concern in Likud that this popularity comes at Likud's expense. According to Channel 2's Knesset correspondent Amit Segal, Likud's leadership is also unhappy with the fact that Lieberman has not yet proclaimed support for Netanyahu as Prime Minister. Segal said that while Netanyahu and Lieberman had been close allies at the start of their political careers, relations between them have been unpleasant for a long time. For a while, recently, the two made an effort to meet every week at a Tel Aviv cafe, to keep some kind of working relationship going, but these meetings too have been discontinued.
'Out of her league'
Sources within the Likud campaign told Ynet Saturday evening that the party has not decided to attack Lieberman “for now” and that Likud “will not attack a party that does not attack us.”
Likud does intend to begin a negative campaign against Kadima head Tzipi Livni, with the slogan “she's out of her league” (literally: “it's too big for her”). The campaign was put on hold because of operation Cast Lead but will now be renewed. While Kadima MK Ronit Tirosh blasted the slogan as 'chauvinistic,' female Likud candidates said the fact that Livni is a woman does not make her immune from criticism.
Ya'alon said that he started thinking about joining the Likud when he was Head of Military Intelligence. He denied that he intends to refuse to accept any other role but Defense Minister. “There are many other things to do in the State of Israel,” he explained, citing the field of education as an example.
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