Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) on Friday morning clarified that he will not join a government with former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud).
Speaking to Israel Hayom, Liberman said, "There is no government with Netanyahu, in any case, in any circumstances. I am not willing to enter a government with Netanyahu, because it is a government which will busy itself only with closing his legal cases. We all understand that a Netanyahu government will busy itself only with the Override Clause and the French Law, and we certainly will not be there."
The Override Clause would allow the Knesset to override a Supreme Court ruling, if enough Knesset members support that decision. It was initially pushed forward as a way to rein in Supreme Court activism on issues related to terrorism, infiltrators, and various issues related to Judea and Samaria.
The French Law would prevent the prosecution of a sitting prime minister.
Liberman added, "If Netanyahu gets 61 [Knesset seats], from my perspective that is a disaster for the State of Israel. But no one will ask me. If Netanyahu reaches 59 [Knesset seats], then that will be the start of a big explosion in the Likud."
"I spoke with the top figures in the Likud, with senior Likud MKs," he added. "They are furious. They are angry. The moment he reaches 59 or less, they will not keep him. They will kick him out of the party without primaries, or primaries within the party, or there will be splitoffs. There are strong people there who are fed up."