Prime Minister Netanyahu continues his campaign against Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman, claiming he will recommend the Blue and White party’s Benny Gantz as premier after September’s Knesset elections.
“Yesterday in an interview on Army Radio, Liberman said he would recommend Benny Gantz to be prime minister. He wants Gantz to be prime minister. Those who vote for Liberman are essentially voting for a left-wing government: Ehud Barak as defense minister, Yair Lapid as foreign minister,” Netanyahu says at a campaign event for Russian speakers at a bar in Rishon Lezion.
In the interview Sunday, Liberman did not explicitly back Gantz for prime minister but said he could recommend him if Netanyahu refuses to break with his ultra-Orthodox and national-religious allies.
Netanyahu and Liberman, once allies, have been at loggerheads since the latter refused the prime minister’s offers to join a coalition unless a bill regulating exemptions to mandatory military service for seminary students was passed without exceptions, helping prompt fresh elections.
The premier has been appealing since then to voters from countries of the former Soviet Union, who traditionally have been the key support bloc for Yisrael Beytenu.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raises his glass during a campaign event at a bar in Rishon Lezion on July 30, 2019. (Courtesy)
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Tuesday, July 30, 2019
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