Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman on Saturday said he was disappointed over Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz's decision to enter a government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on Gantz to publish the basic parameters of such a government.
As for his promise to support a unity government, Lieberman told Channel 13 News in an interview on Saturday that this was not the case at present as this would merely be another Netanyahu government, in his view.
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"Gantz made a wrong move, if not a delusional one, I wish him luck -- it's his right to make mistakes," Lieberman said in an interview with Channel 13 News.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, he said his party would remain in the opposition.
Yisrael Beytenu, he wrote, "has principles and a worldview" and cannot be bought with promises of a ministerial role or a committee chairmanship position. "Unlike others, we have no intention of deviating from our path or the promises we made to the public that voted for us," he said in a jab likely directed at Gantz.
"The government that is going to be formed is not a unity government, but a Netanyahu government with a Haredi-messianic bloc that is being joined by Resilience. Therefore, Yisrael Beytenu will serve Israel from the opposition," he added.
Lieberman also slammed the size of the emerging national emergency government, saying that in light of the coronavirus crisis and the expected economic damage, it would be better to form a narrow government of 18 ministers rather than 30.
"At this time the decision-makers are expected to display a personal example -- a modest government, not 30 ministers," he said.
"The crisis is a healthcare one but also economic, [its management] should have moved to the [IDF's] Home Front Command a long time ago," Lieberman continued. "What's really important are the unemployed, the lack of ventilators."
