Likud lawmakers railed against Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Lieberman in Israeli media on Thursday morning, hours after his refusal to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition forced Israel into new elections next September.
"This is one of the biggest farces in politics," Likud MK Miki Zohar said in an interview with Army Radio. He warned that Lieberman "will pay the price in the end."
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin told the Kan public broadcaster Lieberman had demanded three ministers and five portfolios as the price for his entry into the coalition.
"[Lieberman] decided that he was not interested in entering the government, so he set conditions that were clearly impossible," Levin said.
The Mako news site reported that Lieberman's party lashed out at Levin, calling him "the utmost liar during the coalition talks."
Likud MK Yoav Kisch, however, told Army Radio that Lieberman premeditated his estrangement from the coalition in a bid to topple Netanyahu.
"Lieberman got everything he requested," Kisch said. "He wanted elections. There was no connection to the draft bill, all he wanted was to bring down Netanyahu."
This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
