From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 1, 2024
Liberman: Divisions in society put Israel on path to becoming splintered like Lebanon
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Israel is obligated to think about the day after the war ends not only in the Gaza Strip but “also in the State of Israel,” Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman declares during his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
Warning against the danger posed by “a community that does not share the same values and vision,” a veiled reference to the ultra-Orthodox, Liberman warns that further divisions in Israeli society could lead the country into a situation like that of Lebanon, which has long been riven by strong sectarian cleavages.
Israelis need to being a dialogue on the “day after” immediately, he continued, inviting his fellow party heads to establish a “wall-to-wall Zionist coalition” that can enact universal conscription, mandatory core studies and electoral reform.
“We don’t need to draft anybody by force,” he says of the ultra-Orthodox, calling for the imposition of financial sanctions in order to boost enlistment.
