Liberman reiterates refusal to join coalition with ‘supporters of terror’

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman reiterates his party’s refusal to join any coalition that includes the two Arab-led parties in the next Knesset.

With neither bloc securing a majority, pressure has been rising on the “change” coalition to work with Ra’am and the Joint List to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Liberman has been among those most steadfastly refusing to entertain such an option.

“We will not sit with supporters of terrorism!” he writes on Facebook, citing a number of statements and actions from Ra’am and Joint List MKs to support his claim.

Liberman points to Joint List MK Ofer Cassif — the faction’s only Jewish member — for supporting South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, Ra’am MK Yasser Hujirat’s refusal to call Hamas a terrorist organization, and Joint List MK Osama Saadi singing the Palestinian national anthem on election night.

The High Court last month overturned a Central Elections Committee decision to disqualify both Ra’am and the Joint List from running, but the court pressured Sami Abu Shehadeh, the chairman of Balad — one of the three factions in the Joint List — to drop out of the race or face disqualification for expressing support for armed struggle against Israel.

“Anyone who wants to rely on supporters of terrorism is welcome to do so,” Liberman writes. “Yisrael Beytenu will not be part of it.”