Liberman hits back at Bennett over election warning

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman responds to Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s warning that a failure to pass a bill that would prevent mini-markets from opening on Shabbat could bring early elections.

Liberman, whose Yisrael Beytenu party opposes the bill, accuses Bennett’s Jewish Home of having a history of bringing down right-wing governments.

“Since the good old days of the National Religious Party, the Jewish Home in all its variations has a long tradition of toppling right-wing governments,” Liberman tells Ynet.

Liberman describes Bennett and Shas leader Aryeh Deri, the bill’s main backer, as “messianic.” He accuses them of “trying to impose their authority on the residents of Israel,” which he says runs counter to the views of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the godfather of Israel’s right wing.

The defense minister also addresses criticism over Yisrael Beytenu and the opposition’s refusal to have one MK skip the final votes on the bill to compensate for the absence of Likud MK Yehudah Glick, whose wife died earlier today.

“I don’t understand why [the coalition] needs to insist on holding a vote on the mini-market bill in the Knesset when one of the Likud members is burying his wife,” he says.

Liberman criticizes the coalition for refusing to delay the second and third plenum readings for the bill, which are scheduled for this evening.