From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 25, 2026
Liberman reiterates Yisrael Beytenu could partner with post-Netanyahu Likud
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"
A post-Netanyahu Likud could be a viable coalition partner for Yisrael Beytenu, chair Avigdor Liberman reiterates to reporters ahead of the hawkish opposition party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
Insisting that there is no way he could sit with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nor with the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties — an “unholy” alliance which is “is leading the State of Israel to the destruction of the Third Temple” — Liberman says that he assumes that “at least a part of Likud will be a partner in the next government.”
Liberman made similar comments during a press conference in Tel Aviv earlier this month, stating that in order for him to sit with with Likud sans Netanyahu, the party would have to accept key parts of his platform, which includes prime ministerial term limits, a prohibition on running for prime minister while under indictment, a state commission of inquiry and public transportation on Shabbat.
Asked about Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot’s willingness to hold talks with the Haredim and even exempt several thousand men from military service, Liberman says excusing them from service “is a disgrace to the Torah” and a “desecration of God’s name.”
Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz also tells reporters that the next government must conscript the Haredim, arguing that “only a broad, Zionist unity government can do this.”
“I also suggest to my friends in the opposition parties, who I have no doubt understand this need, to put the welfare of our soldiers before their political welfare,” he says.
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