Yisrael Beytenu would be open to working with reformed, post-Netanyahu Likud, Liberman says

By Sam Sokol 6 May 2026, 1:06 pm

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Sam 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"

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman says that while he will not sit in a government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he is open to entering a coalition including a post-Netanyahu Likud party if it embraces certain policies — something it is unlikely to do.

“I will not sit with Netanyahu” because he bears “personal responsibility” for October 7 and “tries to blame others,” Liberman tells reporters at a press conference in Tel Aviv.

The hawkish former Netanyahu ally says that the premier is “not worthy of sitting in any government” and “cannot be a partner in a future coalition, period.”

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.

Liberman and his allies have recently positioned their party as the true successor of the old, pre-Netanyahu Likud party.

Liberman also decries politics becoming personal and, he says, more about leaders than substantive issues. He further insists that Israel cannot continue fighting round after round against its enemies and that regime change in Iran and the destruction of Hezbollah in Lebanon are possible.

Asked about reports of a potential merger with Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party, Liberman replies that the primary goal of the upcoming elections is to replace Netanyahu’s government that “any move that brings an added value of two or three mandates is necessary. But there must be added value. If a move doesn’t contribute to adding mandates, then in my view, it’s a waste of time.”

A union between Yashar and Yisrael Beytenu — which currently holds six seats in the Knesset but has been consistently polling at about 10 seats — could yield a combined 25 seats, bringing it neck-and-neck with the Together slate and potentially drawing away votes from the coalition.