Hitting back at PM, Liberman says Netanyahu’s no friend of religious Zionists

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman hits back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criticism of his comments accusing Israel’s religious pre-military academies of training private militias who will obey rabbis rather than commanders.

“Mr. Prime Minister, you are the last one who can teach me and preach to me about religious Zionism,” Liberman says in a message posted on social media.

“It’s you, Mr. Prime Minister, who made a decision to transfer Hebron to the Palestinians. It’s you, Mr. Prime Minister, who conducted negotiations with Arafat. It’s you, Mr. Prime Minister, who voted in favor of the disengagement in the Knesset. It is you who pay a fee to the Hamas terrorist organization. A little modesty will not hurt you!” Liberman charges, listing decisions made by Netnayahu over the last two decades which were largely opposed by the religious right.

Netanyahu had tweeted in response to Liberman’s remarks that “religious Zionism is the salt of the earth and has made a tremendous contribution to the IDF and the country.”

— Raoul Wootliff