Avidgor Liberman
Avidgor Libermanצילום: יונתן זינדל, פלאש 90

Israeli Finance Minister Avidgor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) acknowledged Tuesday morning that the coalition government is facing “problems” over internal strife, insisted the government will continue to function.

Speaking with Radio 103FM, Liberman responded to questions regarding the United Arab List’s ultimatum demanding the government help pass the so-called “Electricity Law”, which would link illegal Arab homes to the electricity infrastructure, or else face a boycott by the UAL of Knesset votes, a move which would deny the government a majority.

“It was clear that there would be problems in the coalition, but at the end of the day, the government functions. The problems will, it seems continue on with us because the coalition is narrow, and there are many disagreements over basic ideology.”

But, Liberman continued, “The coalition will survive, whether or not we need to go to war against Hamas. We aren’t bothered by concerns regarding the unity of the coalition; that’s not a concern when discussing the security of Israeli citizens.”

Liberman went on to blame the ongoing rise in housing prices on the Netanyahu government.

“That is the inheritance we received. This government was established this June, and in order to satisfy demand, the country needs to build at least 60,000 homes each year, but last year we only built 48,000.”

“If I look at this objectively, the factor that is boosting the rise in housing prices is without a doubt the exceptionally low prime interest rate, which is currently 0%. That effectively incentivized all of the mortgages the public took in May.”