Israel defence minister Yaalon resigns in ‘extremist’ spat with PM Netanyahu
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon resigned yesterday, charging that extremists had taken over the government after he clashed repeatedly with hardline ministers over the army’s handling of Palestinian violence.
Yaalon said he no longer had any trust in Benjamin Netanyahu after the prime minister offered his post to a hardliner loathed by the Palestinians, in a bid to expand the governing coalition’s majority.
The surprise move by the respected former armed forces chief comes after a series of disputes over the military’s values and role in society between ministers in Netanyahu’s government and top generals backed by Yaalon.
“I told the prime minister this morning that due to his conduct in recent developments, and in light of my lack of trust in him, I am resigning from the government and Knesset [parliament] and taking a break from political life,” Yaalon said on Twitter.
His resignation comes two days after former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said he would be open to bringing his far-right Yisrael Beitenu party into Netanyahu’s governing coalition if a number of conditions were met, including being named defence minister. That condition looked likely to be met as Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party pressed talks with Yisrael Beitenu yesterday on the terms of a deal to boost the coalition’s wafer-thin majority in parliament.
Yaalon’s resignation does not take effect for two days and, hours after it was announced, he used the podium of the defence ministry to deliver an impassioned tirade against the extremism that he said was gripping the Likud party and the country as a whole.
“Unfortunately extremist and dangerous elements have taken over Israel and the Likud and are threatening [society,” he said.
“This isn’t the Likud I joined,” he added, calling on the “sane majority” of Likud voters as well as the rest of the nation “to realise the severe implications of the extremist takeover of the centre, and fight this phenomenon.”
Yaalon said he had worked harmoniously with Netanyahu in the past, but recently “found himself in serious dispute over professional and moral issues with the prime minister, a number of ministers and lawmakers.”
Many Israelis have questioned the wisdom of appointing Lieberman to the sensitive post of defence minister over Yaalon, a former army chief of staff who is generally respected for his knowledge of military affairs. Polls commissioned by Israeli TV stations broadcast Thursday showed that a majority of Israelis prefer Yaalon as defence minister over Lieberman.
Lieberman has held a number of Cabinet posts in the past, including stints as foreign minister.
His hardline stance has made him an influential voice at home but has at times alienated Israel’s allies overseas. He has questioned the loyalty of Israel’s Arab minority and confronted Israel’s foreign critics. He has expressed scepticism over pursuing peace with the Palestinians, and is now pushing a proposal to impose the death penalty against Arabs convicted of acts of terrorism.
With Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts in a deep freeze, Lieberman’s addition to the government could push the prospect of reviving talks even further into the distance.
Lieberman rose to prominence as the engineer of Netanyahu’s successful run for prime minister in 1996, and he later became Netanyahu’s chief of staff.
His tough stances have long stoked controversy. As a Cabinet minister last decade, he called for the bombing of Palestinian gas stations, banks and commercial centers.
He also led a recent parliamentary drive to exclude Arab parties from running for election — a move that was overturned by Israel’s Supreme Court.
Yet despite his rhetoric, Lieberman has shown signs of pragmatism. He served as a Cabinet minister in two centrist Israeli governments, though he was fired for opposing Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza and resigned to protest peace talks that begun at the 2007 conference in Annapolis. His plan for redrawing Israel’s borders would also mean dismantling some Jewish settlements.
