Lieberman's anger and oversized ego

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman made a unilateral decision to stay out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government.

His decision was motivated by anger, hostility and an oversized ego. It has an emotional component to it too. The 19th Knesset was riddled with conflicts between Lieberman and Netanyahu, in part because Lieberman attempted a political coup against Netanyahu, and because Lieberman supported the anti-Israel Hayom bill, which Netanyahu opposed. But Lieberman's most vehement complaint against Netanyahu was that the prime minister denied him re-entry back into the Likud fold.

Of course, to this you must add the criminal suspicions hanging over many members of Yisrael Beytenu in what appears to be an unprecedented kickback scheme. Does Lieberman have any allies left apart from Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver? Does anyone still take him seriously when he laments, once again, how the police are out to get him?

Given these circumstances, Lieberman decided to take a gamble and try to topple the government before it was even assembled. He hopes that with a narrow majority of 61 MKs, the government will not survive for long. And he is right. Such a coalition will be extremely precarious. One no-confidence vote and it could fall.

But there are other, more complex, aspects to Lieberman's decision. Lieberman knows that he is playing with fire. Without the Immigrant Absorption Ministry, he and his constituents have no hold in the government. Such a narrow government will bolster the ultra-Orthodox parties rather than temper them. As a result, anyone who seeks to convert to Judaism will have to jump through many more hoops. It is a race against time: Who will topple whom? The day after the government is sworn in, things could unfold in two ways: Lieberman could manage to topple the de facto minority government, or alternately, Lieberman's six-member party could shrink even further and disappear into oblivion.

Now is the time for personal grievances and political wit to shape the Knesset. Not all is lost. Lieberman could be given some perks, such as the chairmanship of the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee. Netanyahu could also incorporate Lieberman's views on conversion into the coalition agreements. This could pave the way for Lieberman's return to the coalition, despite storming out of the room on Monday. Alternately, with Lieberman gone, Netanyahu could credibly claim that the circumstances make it imperative for him to offer high-profile portfolios to the Zionist Union.

Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog appreciates this new reality. He has accordingly stayed silent. There is internal strife in his party over a possible unity government. Even some of his associates are against such a move. But in light of the challenges Israel faces in Washington and the European Union, and with the Middle East in flux, there is reason to believe that general public would favor a wide government. If this scenario materializes, no one is going to be more regretful of Lieberman's move than Lieberman himself.

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