Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman denied reports Wednesday morning that he will break up the government coalition if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not "punish" the Palestinian Authority should it file a formal motion in the United Nations for unilateral recognition.
The Foreign Minister heads the Yisrael Beiteinu party, the largest coalition partner in the Likud coalition government.
He said that "this is not the time break up the government" even if Israel does not take harsh steps aganist PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas if he does not halt the process that for the time being will end up in the lap of the United Nations Security Council for a formal vote on its bid for membership in the international body.
Lieberman previously has said that Israel should respond with a move to annex large parts of Judea and Samaria and bring them under Israeli sovereignty instead of leaving them under the current status of military rule.
He also has stated that Israel should take a quid pro pro approach and cancel the Oslo Accords because a bid for unilateral recognition would be a blatant violation of the signed agreement.
Both Foreign Minister Lieberman and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz want the government to halt all transfers of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, collected by Israel, if Abbas insists on going through with his appeal to the United Nations.
Steinitz, a senior member of the Likud, said he was stating a personal view and was not speaking in the name of the government.