Israel’s defense minister Moshe Ya’alon withdrew from Israeli politics on Friday, May 20, saying that lately he has increasingly found himself at odds, morally and professionally, with the prime minister and several other cabinet ministers and MKs. Ya’alon made the move after news broke that Netanyahu planned to appoint the racist MK Avigdor Liberman as defense minister. Head of the extreme-right Yisrael Beitenu party, Liberman has a long history of inflammatory remarks directed against Arabs in general, virulent anti-Palestinian political positions, and has been the initiator of much discriminatory legislation directed against Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. He has also been investigated on several occasions for financial wrongdoing and violent misconduct, but has never been indicted.

Regarding Liberman’s experience in military matters, the new minister of defense attained the rank of corporal in the artillery of the IDF. His new position effectively places him in charge of the Occupied Palestinian Territories which is have been administered under Israeli military rule since 1967.

“Death penalty for terrorists”, an election campaign poster for Avigdor Liberman’s Israel Beiteinu party (Photo: Hakol Shkarim)

Joint List MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash), who believes the PM carried out the recent government reshuffle solely to secure continuation of his rule, told Mondoweiss the move “reveals the true face of Netanyahu.” “He [Liberman] holds well-known political positions against negotiations with the Palestinians.  He believes more in using military power,” Touma-Sliman said, citing Liberman’s past pledge to remove Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip through force.

Touma-Sliman, a leader of the Communist Party of Israel, also pointed to Liberman’s advocacy to strip citizenship from Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, to whom he has in the past referred to as “Israel’s fifth column,” the likes of whom should have their heads cut off – as well as his vow to enact a bill imposing the death penalty for “terrorists.” “Netanyahu doesn’t seem to have any problem with these positions,” Touma-Sliman said, voicing concern over the potential implications of Liberman’s use of power in the position of defense minister. “I’m afraid Liberman is going to take decisions that will make the lives of Palestinians even more horrible.”

Touma-Sliman told Mondoweiss that while it is typical for Israeli society to shift to the right during times of unrest, the current shift in the Knesset has been marked by the exploitation of the violence since October by right-wing MKs for their own political gain. Many in the Knesset have used recent violence to pass legislation which she believes creates an “environment that is hostile to democratic approaches to either the issue of occupation or its political resolution.” “The question now is: what is the world going to do?” Touma-Sliman asked. “The world until today still believes what Netanyahu says about his willingness to talk to the Palestinians.  To have Liberman as defense minister…I think this is a very clear message Netanyahu is sending to the world about his goals for the future.”

The New Likud MK

Following Ya’alon’s resignation from the Knesset, his empty parliamentary seat will be filled by the next candidate from the Likud’s electoral list for the March 2015 elections: Yehuda Glick, a controversial US-born figure in the Likud, who is active in the “Temple Institute” which promotes the destruction of the Dome of the Rock to make way for a Third Jewish Temple.

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