Shevach Stern, the head of the Likud National Headquarters, criticized Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman's call for Israel to coordinate with the Trump Administration to build only in the so-called 'settlement blocs.'
"Liberman represents a party of five mandates, and I'll bet you that most of his party is not represented." Stern said in an interview with Arutz Sheva. "But when the Defense Minister says something the US takes it seriously. So why come ahead of the the new American Administration, which will probably be more sympathetic?"
"To say that we will build only in the 'settlement blocs' is a horrible statement. Is he trying to avoid the essential issues of the 'settlements?" Stern wondered.
Stern now regrets the fact that the Likud National Headquarters supported Liberman's joining the coalition. "We were partners just a few months ago, when Liberman joined the government and not 'Bougie' Herzog (nickname for head of Zionist Union Party, ed.), so these statements of his are very serious. He is a man who comes from the 'settlements,' but not from the blocks."
"We expect the Prime Minister to express his opinion and say that the freeze is ending and that construction will resume. It is the Israeli government which will determine this."
Stern thinks that Liberman may be reacting to his lack of support from the right-wing segment of the population. "Maybe he is moving to the left because he is worried about his inability to increase the size of Yisrael Beyteinu."