About two weeks before the April 9 election, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman released a campaign ad in which he pretended to be a senior rabbi. The ad showed Lieberman issuing a religious ruling that allowed public transportation on Shabbat, civil marriage and more things that are currently not permitted in Israel.
The ad showed his three "principles" but there was no gravitas or an ideological symbol that could capture the people's imagination.
When he sat down for an interview with me just before the election, he did not mention the controversial haredi conscription bill that has caused the latest uproar.
The interview was about the Gaza Strip and how to deal with terrorism. He said that a change in policy toward Gaza was his main condition for joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fifth government.
That bill was featured in his campaign as part of his overall effort to usher in a more secular society, an agenda I support, but not once in the interview did he describe it as the make-or-break issue that would prevent him from joining the government.
Lieberman has a national security agenda that is not so simplistic as some have suggested. In fact, his proposed national security policies vis-à-vis Gaza may work but may cost a lot. At least Lieberman presented a plan, while others on the Left did not.
But while Lieberman may be correct that the coalition talks were handled poorly by Netanyahu, he must not lose sight of the national interest.
The United Right and Lieberman's Yisrael Beytenu party lack any democratic tradition, they have no respect for election outcomes and have no regard to the people's verdict. In fact, we now live in a world in which all those forces who say they want to defend democracy are trying to undermine the will of the voters.
Lieberman never called Netanyahu to congratulate him for his victory, as far as I know; he never asked Netanyahu how he could help him and he could not care less about the fact Netanyahu was elected.
In fact, after the election Lieberman reneged on what he said he would do during our interview: he refused to say that he was unequivocally supporting Netanyahu becoming prime minister again.
Yes, he said Netanyahu's main rival, Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz, was unfit to serve as prime minister and said he would never serve in his government. But he never sounded such strong words in favor of Netanyahu and even leveled heavy criticism on him relating to his handling of Hamas.
Lieberman could break the impasse and join forces with the prime minister so that they can deliver on what the people want them to do.
Truth be told, Lieberman's campaign pledges – ranging from civil marriage and the draft of haredim all the way to being tough on Gaza – didn't quite help him win votes. The crisis he has generated by insisting on passing the haredi conscription bill is perhaps his way of leveraging his poor electoral showing to the maximum.
Earlier in the week, people around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was a 10% chance of reaching a compromise with Lieberman. On Tuesday, that probability rose to 51%.
Lieberman has already set himself apart from the rest of the Right, effectively deciding the fate of the next government. Let's just hope a government gets sworn in.
