Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Monday, June 14, 2021

Liberman hopes ultra-Orthodox parties will languish in opposition for many years

14 June 2021, 12:29 pm 0 Edit

Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman (L) with Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg (C) and Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, June 14, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Taking office, Israel’s new Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman takes a dig at his predecessor, Likud’s Israel Katz, by vowing that under him there will be no “wild economic behavior.”

Liberman says taxes won’t be raised, and says the Finance Ministry professional staff shouldn’t be treated as “bureaucrats,” after Katz repeatedly clashed with ministry officials over the issue of a state budget, which Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly blocked from passing to avoid handing the premiership to Benny Gantz.

Liberman says his Yisrael Beytenu party has fulfilled its three main goals: replacing the government, forming a coalition without the ultra-Orthodox and getting the finance portfolio.

He says he hopes the Haredi parties remain in the opposition for “many years.”