Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman have had a series of run-ins over the past few weeks, and this has created further strain on an already strained relationship. The first disagreement came when the prime minister authorised Minister of Industry, Trade and Labour, Benyamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer, to hold a secret meeting with the Turkish foreign minister in Zurich. This meeting was held soon after the Gaza flotilla raid, and came at the request of Turkish officials. Even though it is known that Fuad has close links with Turkish government officials, the meeting was held without the knowledge of Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman.
Just as we appeared to have got through the outfall of the meeting with the Turks, Lieberman snubbed Netanyahu by naming a temporary ambassador to the UN without Netanyahu’s knowledge. It is highly unusual for a temporary ambassador to be named, and it is not clear why this strange step was taken. The fact that such an important diplomatic position was appointed without the agreement of the prime minister is a clear sign of Lieberman flexing his own muscles.
Yesterday, PM Netanyahu announced that he would not support the proposed Conversion Bill, which had been put forward by Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party. While it was clear that Netanyahu was coming under enormous pressure from certain Jewish groups in the USA, it is clear that Netanyahu was happy to be slighting Lieberman.
Lieberman, it seems, will not be convinced to resign and take his party out of the coalition over this series of events. Even though he knows that the prime minister needs his seats to keep the government in power, he seems not to be eager to play brinkmanship on this occasion.
Tzipi Livni was reported to be waiting in the wings to swoop in and bring her Kadima party into the coalition in exchange for the job at the foreign ministry. Her enthusiasm is still a little premature, although it would be foolish to rule out a breakdown between Netanyahu and Lieberman in the future.
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