Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman escalated his attacks on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners, leveling a series of harsh accusations in an interview on Channel 12 News on Saturday night, ahead of the upcoming elections.
During the interview, Liberman claimed there is a genuine risk that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) will be weaponized politically during the election campaign. "There is an attempt to deploy the Shin Bet in this election against political rivals and against media outlets he deems 'unfriendly,' and this must not be allowed to happen," he said. He further urged Shin Bet personnel to document any political requests they receive.
Liberman also fiercely criticized the government's conduct, branding some of its moves as "Taliban-style legislation." He charged that "this draft-dodgers' alliance of Yitzhak Goldknopf, Aryeh Deri, and Netanyahu harms state security and the IDF more than Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis combined."
He went on to attack Shas and its chairman, Aryeh Deri, as well as former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. "I don't understand this urge to legitimize Shas and Aryeh Deri," he said, adding that "the desire to legitimize them stems from Eisenkot's lack of experience and lack of knowledge."
Liberman made it clear that Yisrael Beytenu would not join a government that includes Shas or United Torah Judaism. "A coalition with them - they can forget about Yisrael Beytenu. It must not happen," he declared. On the issue of the military draft, he reiterated his demand for mandatory service for the entire population and stated that institutions refusing to teach core curriculum subjects will not receive state funding.
In response to the interview, Minister Amichai Chikli lashed out at Liberman, calling his claims regarding the potential political weaponization of the Shin Bet a "delusional and severe accusation," and flatly rejected the assertions.
The Likud party also issued a response and said, "Unlike Liberman's party, which is a dictatorship, the Likud led by Prime Minister Netanyahu is a democratic party. Liberman, to whom democracy is a foreign concept, is projecting his own inclinations and adopting the methods of the left wing he has aligned himself with. In every election campaign, Netanyahu has demonstrated his loyalty to the democratic process and his respect for the election results. One can only imagine what would happen if the Shin Bet were subjected to Liberman's authority for even a single day: it would pose a real danger to every citizen in Israel."