The head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party says Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman has inched closer to the “abyss” after his ultimatum to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz last night.
“Yesterday something significant happened in Israel. Avigdor Liberman took another step toward toward his political and moral abyss and clearly declared he would prefer to sit with the members of the Joint List led by Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi — whom he has called a ‘fifth column’ and ‘terrorists’ — and not with us, his brothers and sisters, the traditional, religious and ultra-Orthodox public,” Aryeh Deri writes on Facebook.
Aryeh Deri (left), leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, seen with head of the Yisrael Beytenu political party Avigdor Liberman at the “Sheva Brachot” of Deri’s daughter, December 23, 2015. (Yaacov Cohen/Flash90)
Deri says Liberman is being driven by a “personal hatred” of Netanyahu, “causing him to completely stray from his path and to cooperate with those who for years he worked against.”
He adds: “We won’t be silent and won’t accept the ruling out and boycotting of a humongous community in the country just because of its faith and way of life.”
Liberman and Deri were previously considered close but have since had a falling out over issues of religion and state.
In a TV interview, Liberman called on Netanyahu and Gantz to compromise on their negotiating positions and form a unity government, saying he would clear the way for whichever of them doesn’t reject his conditions to assemble a “narrow” coalition, without spelling out what this means.
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