The Yisrael Beytenu party and its leader, Avigdor Lieberman, suffered a major blow on Thursday, when the Blue and White faction split: Benny Gantz led his party, Israel Resilience, into a unity government with the Likud and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid and Telem's Moshe Ya'alon decided to sit in the opposition.
This development, which was stunning on the one hand and very predictable on the other, meant Lieberman has gone from political kingmaker to being utterly irrelevant in the span of just a few months.
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The man himself has yet to publicly respond to this development but Yisrael Beytenu officials expressed disappointment with Gantz's move.
"Gantz did not consult with us or share his plans. He betrayed us," one Yisrael Beytenu MK told Israel Hayom.
"We agreed to form a Zionist and liberal government without the ultra-Orthodox parties and the extremists, and in the end, he did the opposite. Nothing will get done, this government will be useless."
Likud MK Dr. Shlomo Karai told Israel Hayom, "The chief inciter, the person responsible for dragging Israel into three election campaigns in one year, has been left with no bargaining chips and may very well be left outside the government.
"He collaborated with the Joint Arab List's terror sympathizers and he has been left battered and bruised, pathetic and irrelevant," he continued, hedging that "soon, Lieberman will disappear from politics altogether.
"Lieberman, who sowed hate and schism in Israeli society, is now reaping the fruits of said hatred and will be relegated to the back benches of the opposition."
United Torah Judaism MK Uri Maklev said, "The attempt to push processes by setting precedents while showing no consideration for the public at a time of a national emergency spelled a reversal of fortunes for them (Lieberman and Lapid].
"High Court and the parties that promoted incitement and were dismissive of the coronavirus crisis, using it for political gain – it all backfired on them."
Director of the Jewish Home Nir Orbach wrote "On the margins of the drama. For a whole year, Lieberman rattled the country. Invented ideology and officer here the discourse, paid the price in full. "
Habayit Hayehudi official Nir Orbach said, "For a whole year, Lieberman drove the country crazy. Now he has paid the price in full."
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