Yoaz Hendel, head of the Reservists party, sharply attacked Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman and left-bloc leaders Thursday evening following reports that Liberman lifted his years-long ban on sitting with the ultra-Orthodox in government. “Shame on you. After the hardest war we’ve known, you’re negotiating over the country’s security,” Hendel wrote on his X account shortly after the report was published.
1+“If you’re selling all your values just to form a government—how are you different from the current coalition?” Hendel asked. The Reservists chairman added that “forces are still being thinned in Gaza because there aren’t enough soldiers, we’re still being called up for endless rounds of reserve duty,” and signed off with: “We won’t let you off the hook.”
According to the report, Liberman gave his left-bloc partners the green light to negotiate with United Torah Judaism and Shas, based on the draft bill he promoted in 2018 when he served as defense minister in Netanyahu’s government. Such a coalition would rest on 61 Knesset members—48 from the left bloc and 13 from the ultra-Orthodox parties. The report also said the framework could include a rotation agreement for the prime minister’s office between Liberman and Yesh chairman Gadi Eisenkot.
1+The shift came hours after United Torah Judaism representatives declined this morning to recommend Netanyahu to President Isaac Herzog. Before the election, Liberman pledged in an interview: “I’m telling you in advance: I won’t sit in a coalition with Goldknopf and Deri, period.” On Monday, when he announced he would recommend Eisenkot, the Yisrael Beiteinu chairman again ruled out a minority government and sitting with Netanyahu, but avoided explicitly disqualifying a partnership with the ultra-Orthodox.