Lieberman’s move to pull his 6-member Yisrael Beytenu party out of the government leaves Netanyahu with the slimmest of ruling majorities, with a coalition of only 61 members out of 120. A ruling majority is not mandatory to maintain power, though any no-confidence motion can collapse a government in Israel’s parliamentary system.
By JNS
Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman abruptly resigned his post and removed his Yisrael Beytenu party from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition less than a day after Israel reportedly agreed to a ceasefire with Hamas. During the announcement at a meeting of the Yisrael Beytenu Knesset faction on Wednesday, Lieberman also called on Netanyahu to call early elections.
According to Israel’s Channel 10 news, at least four senior ministers opposed the ceasefire during a seven-hour cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Lieberman, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi-Jewish Home), Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi-Jewish Home), and Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) disagreed with the Prime Minister’s decision to de-escalate the conflict following a severe 25-hour pounding of Israel’s south by Hamas with over 460 rockets and mortar shells.
Housing Minister Yoav Galant (Kulanu) said the security cabinet ultimately accepted Netanyahu’s decision, though Netanyahu reportedly did not put the decision to a vote.
Initial reports following the ceasefire announcement claimed Lieberman, Bennett, Shaked and Elkin had voted in favor of the initiative, but Lieberman and Bennett’s offices both issued statements vehemently denying any support for the ceasefire.
Lieberman’s move to pull his 6-member Yisrael Beytenu party out of the government leaves Netanyahu with the slimmest of ruling majorities, with a coalition of only 61 members out of 120. A ruling majority is not mandatory to maintain power, though any no-confidence motion can collapse a government in Israel’s parliamentary system.
At a memorial event for Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and his wife Paula, Netanyahu defended the ceasefire announcement, claiming that Hamas “begged” Israel for the ceasefire.
“In times of trial, Ben-Gurion made fateful decisions,” said Netanyahu. “Sometimes he did so contrary to popular opinion, but over time, these decisions turned out to be correct.”
“In routine times, a leader has to be attentive to the feelings of the people, and we are a wise nation. But in times of crisis, at a time of fateful decisions regarding security, the public at times cannot be a partner to decisive considerations that must be hidden from the enemy,” Netanyahu added.
“At these times leadership is not doing the easy thing, but the right thing, even if it is hard,” he said. “Leadership is standing up to criticism when you know things that are secret and sensitive, and which you cannot share with the citizens of Israel and in this case the residents of the south, whom I love and greatly appreciate.”
It remains unclear whether Netanyahu will send the country into early elections, or who will receive the post of Defense Minister.
Earlier, a senior Israeli official indicated that an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire has been reached between Israel and Hamas, and other Gaza terrorist groups, amid the latter launching more than 400 rockets into Israel since Monday.
Some 27 people have so far been injured in the violence, with one Palestinian worker in Ashkelon killed.
“Israel maintains its right to act. Requests from Hamas for a ceasefire came through four different mediators. Israel responded that the events on the ground will decide [if a ceasefire will go into effect],” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times of Israel.