Yisrael Beytenu leader Lieberman terms leftist groups 'traitors'

Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman made harsh statements over the weekend about two leftist organizations, Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem, calling them "traitors."

"With all our desire to be politically correct and polite, there are things that have to be called what they are. As far as I'm concerned, these two groups are not freedom of expression, they're greed. They aren't any different than Udi Adiv or Mordechai Vanunu [both of whom were convicted of treason] -- we're talking about traitors, period," Lieberman said in an interview on Channel 1.

Referring to a left-wing activist who was recently arrested after a television expose on questionable leftist practices, Lieberman also said: "I think that Ezra Nawi isn't nonsense. He represents a well-oiled machine that gets millions of shekels. Here you have an influx of funds from the most anti-Israel institutions. Not only the European Union, not only governments, but also the same foundations that fund Hamas. They also fund B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence."

According to the Yisrael Beytenu chairman, "It's unacceptable that during Operation Protective Edge [Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza in 2014], B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence went out and looked for incriminating evidence against IDF soldiers. During the course of the operation, they handed this material over to the most hostile entities. That's not acceptable."

Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Galon responded to Lieberman's statements, saying, "Avigdor Lieberman, in the dictionary next to the terms 'greed' and 'betraying public interests,' your picture appears. The fact that you are currently in the opposition is doubly absurd, both because your actions have made you a natural partner in [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's and [Education Minister Naftali] Bennett's thieving coalition and because you aren't in prison yet."

Galon touched on the corruption scandal engulfing Yisrael Beytenu, saying that "when half the members of your party are being investigated on suspicion of stealing tens of millions of shekels of public money -- that's what's called betraying the public interest out of greed. When leftist organizations voluntarily disclose every source of their funding down to the last shekel, observing the law down to the last letter, that's called transparency and purity of 'arms.'"

"When Yvette [Avigdor] Lieberman uses his family and associates to handle anonymous bank accounts in Cyprus with hundreds of shekels that come from who knows where, and when there is a probability that his driver oversaw shell companies on his [Lieberman's] behalf that receive money from convicted criminals abroad -- that's called greed," Galon concluded.

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