Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) on Wednesday reiterated that he will not sit in a government with Likud chairman MK Benjamin Netanyahu.
"With me, a word is a word. When I said that I would not sit with Netanyahu, I meant that," Liberman told Galei Zahal.
He also laid out the conditions under which he would join the next government: "Without the core curriculum being mandatory, without us being able to continue with all the reforms - in kosher supervision, in the Rabbinate, with civil marriages and also with public transportation on Shabbat (the Sabbath), it simply will not work."
Regarding the Religious Zionism party's plan to cancel the crimes of fraud and breach of trust, he said, "There is a lot to change, but what they are suggesting is simply a takeover - the destruction of all the foundations. It is all intended to extract Netanyahu from his cases."
In fact, Religious Zionism has stated explicitly that the changes will not apply to Netanyahu's case.
Attacking the haredi MKs, Liberman continued, "The chairman of United Torah Judaism says that the married yeshiva students work harder and endanger themselves more than IDF soldiers. He wants to expand Torah studies to the general sector as well, and billions for apartments for married yeshiva students. We pay a heavy price for healthy adults who sit at home and do not work."
Earlier on Wednesday, Liberman had claimed that as of now, Israel has "zero unemployment, zero deficit, and the greatest growth in the West."