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Israel's defence minister quits over rift with Binyamin Netanyahu Israel's defence minister quits over rift with Binyamin Netanyahu
(about 2 hours later)
Israel’s defence minister has announced his resignation, citing poor faith in the prime minister after Binyamin Netanyahu proposed replacing him as part of a move to expand the coalition government. Israel’s defence minister has announced his resignation, delivering a stinging rebuke to the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, whom he said he no longer had “faith in”.
Moshe Yaalon said on Twitter: “I informed the PM that after his conduct and recent developments, and given the lack of faith in him, I am resigning from the government and parliament and taking a break from political life.” The departure of the former defence chief Moshe Yaalon came after Netanyahu, with whom he had recently clashed, invited the hawkish ultranationalist Avigdor Lieberman to replace Yaalon as part of moves to widen his fragile coalition.
Earlier this week it emerged that one of Israel’s most outspokenly hawkish and divisive political figures, the ultranationalist politician Avigdor Lieberman, had been offered the post. Before Yaalon resigned there had been speculation that Netanyahu planned to offer him the post of foreign minister, one of several cabinet positions currently occupied by Netanyahu.
Netanyahu is attempting to enlarge his precarious coalition, which has a majority of one. Yaalon’s departure came as snap polls suggested Israelis preferred Yaalon to Lieberman as defence minister by a wide margin. A poll aired by Israel’s Channel 10 television on Thursday found that 51% of Israeli Jews saw Yaalon as best suited for defence minister, while 27% preferred Lieberman.
Related: Israeli PM asks Avigdor Lieberman to be defence minister in shock move
Two other polls showed similar responses.
Yaalon’s exit could put a new dent in domestic and western confidence in the Netanyahu government.
Already the Palestinian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement criticising the expected appointment of Lieberman, and declaring that Netanyahu is turning his government into the most extreme one in Israel’s history.
A former chief of Israel’s armed forces, Yaalon had shored up relations with the Pentagon, providing a counter-weight to Netanyahu’s policy feuds with Barack Obama over peace talks with the Palestinians and Iran’s nuclear programme.
His resignation comes ahead of the completion of negotiations between Netanyahu and Lieberman to bring the latter’s hard-right Yisrael Beiteinu party out of opposition and into government.
Although Netanyahu’s office has said Lieberman would be “pragmatic and moderate” there has been little evidence of that in his political career.
Indeed a key demand of Lieberman – in addition to cabinet seats – is that Netanyahu commit to new legislation to introduce the death penalty for terrorism.
The expected appointment of Lieberman, an outspoken and hawkish rightwinger who has called Israeli Arab lawmakers “traitors”, has drawn widespread criticism, including from Netanyahu supporters such as the former cabinet minister Benny Begin.
Over several days of high political drama, Netanyahu ditched months-long negotiations with Isaac Herzog, the centrist leader of the opposition, to woo Lieberman.
The stark differences between the two politicians led Israeli commentators to suggest that Netanyahu’s interests were driven by his desire to prolong his time in office rather than any concrete policies.
The inclusion of Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party in the coalition, which has also yet to be confirmed, would give Netanyahu’s Likud party control over 67 of parliament’s 120 seats, up from the current razor-thin majority of 61.
In a furious social media post, Yaalon said he had told Netanyahu on Friday that “following his conduct in recent developments and in light of the lack of trust in him, I am resigning from the government and the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) and taking a time out from political life”.
Lieberman, 57, is one of the country’s most polarising politicians. Over three decades, he has at times been Netanyahu’s closest ally and other times a fierce rival.
Yaalon had been at loggerheads with Netanyahu over his insistence that senior officers be encouraged to “speak their mind”.
The two had clashed in recent weeks both over the defence minister’s backing for embattled IDF deputy chief Yair Golan, who had compared some traits in Israeli society to Europe in the 1930s in a controversial speech and over Netanyahu’s support for a soldier who killed a Palestinian knife attacker after he was lying severely wounded and posing no threat.
Reports said Netanyahu had been considering offering the retired lieutenant general for the foreign ministry as a consolation although the offer was never made.