Liberman again rules out unity gov’t, claims Netanyahu will be left in the cold

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman vows to seek a government without Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud following Monday’s election.

He pledges to “build a government without Netanyahu,” and says “there is no more [prospect of a] unity [government].”

That is a reference to his previous efforts to force a unity government between Likud and Blue and White, which were unsuccessful in the previous round of coalition negotiations in the fall.

Liberman’s party has held a kingmaker position after the April and September elections.

Currently, neither the Netanyahu-led right-wing bloc or the Blue and White-led center-left bloc have enough seats to form a majority government, with opinion polls signaling there would be no dramatic change after Monday’s vote.

Liberman has ruled out partnering with the predominantly Arab Joint List, which would be the only path to Gantz forming a government.