Liberman: Netanyahu government won’t last the year

Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security and foreign policies at a cultural event in Beersheba on Saturday, and predicted the prime minister’s governing coalition would not survive the 2015 calendar year.

A once staunch ally of the prime minister, the Yisrael Beytenu chairman criticized Netanyahu for his weak stance towards terrorism and said the 51-day war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip last year led to the collapse of Israel’s ability to deter future aggression from enemies in the region.

“Israeli deterrence has been damaged since Operation Protective Edge, and nobody takes us seriously — not in Gaza, not in Sinai and not in the Vienna talks with Iran,” he said.

Liberman said that Friday’s rocket fire on Israel by Islamic State supporters in the Sinai proved that not only had the current security strategy damaged the country’s security, but it resulted in Israel’s loss of credibility in the international community.

Liberman, who earlier this year chose to join the opposition rather than Netanyahu’s new coalition, also decried the prime minster’s decision to divide the responsibilities of the Foreign Ministry among an assortment of his ministers.

“They broke apart the Foreign Ministry, lynched it, a pogrom,” he said, adding that under Netanyahu’s leadership, the ministry exhibited a lack of leadership and coherent strategy.

“We aren’t taking the initiative, we’re only responding [to attacks], he said.

Liberman said the government’s security policies vis-a-vis Gaza’s ruling Hamas party were merely a “purchased” temporary peace, and said he warned Netanyahu last year not to strike at Hamas unless he intended to topple the Islamist government completely.

“You can’t stop halfway; if you can’t finish the job, it’s better not to even start,” he said.

The former minister went on to say that Netanyahu’s handling of the controversial legislation exempting the natural gas industry from the antitrust laws was an indication of the type of mismanagement the public should expect from his government’s future budget negotiations.

“The Netanyahu government will not close 2015,” he predicted. “It’s impossible to pass a complicated budget with only a 61-seat majority, it’s not realistic.”

Unable to muster a parliamentary majority, the prime minister last week postponed a Knesset vote that would have pushed through the Netanyahu-backed plan allowing a US-Israeli energy conglomerate to develop Israel’s offshore natural gas reserves. The partnership was branded a de facto monopoly by the antitrust commissioner last year, and the proposed legislation has caused public uproar.

Liberman has become an outspoken critic of the prime minister’s policies in recent months, and on Saturday, reiterated his opposition to Netanyahu’s decision to stop construction of Jewish homes in settlements near Jerusalem and the shelving the Jewish-state bill.

He has also slammed the prime minister for concessions to ultra-Orthodox parties on the issues of conversion and recruitment to the Israel Defense Forces.

Liberman’s comments echoed ones he made over the summer that exposed a rift between him and Netanyahu. The two ran together under a joint list in the 2013 election.

“Netanyahu doesn’t want me in the government, he wants my votes — there is a substantial difference between the two,” he said.