Israel’s Netanyahu, opposition politician Lieberman disagree on reported unity deal
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Mr Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party said Mr Avigdor Lieberman (right) had agreed to join the security Cabinet, but Mr Lieberman appeared to deny it.
PHOTOS: AFP/FACEBOOK
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party said on Saturday that opposition politician Avigdor Lieberman had agreed to join the security Cabinet, but Mr Lieberman appeared to deny this, saying he wanted to be part of a smaller forum running the Gaza war.
“I am willing to join the war Cabinet in order to bring about the fastest possible victory. I have no interest in being ‘Minister Number 38’ in the Cabinet and serve as a fig leaf,” Mr Lieberman said in a social media post.
An hour earlier, Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party said he had invited Mr Lieberman and another unidentified member of the opposition politician’s nationalist party to the security Cabinet.
“Lieberman accepted the invitation,” the statement said.
The conservative Mr Netanyahu has been trying to broaden his government’s base as Israel gears up for a possible ground invasion of Gaza after a week of air strikes in response to the devastating cross-border Hamas onslaught a week ago.
The centrist party of former defence minister Benny Gantz agreed on Wednesday to form a unity government with Mr Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition partners to confront the crisis triggered by the attack. REUTERS
