Netanyahu and Lieberman Formalize Coalition Deal
Benjamin Netanyahu signed a coalition agreement with Yisrael Beiteinu in which he reportedly will name Avigdor Lieberman foreign minister.
The agreement was signed late Sunday night, according to reports, and gives the controversial party the tourism, infrastructure and immigrant absorption portfolios, as well as the chairmanship of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
The parties agreed that the deal could change in the event of the formation of a unity government. Netanyahu, the prime minister-designate, is still negotiating with Kadima Party head Tzipi Livni in a bid to form a broad coalition rather than the narrow right-wing government he has now.
Hours before the agreement was signed, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged Netanyahu to form a broad coalition and threatened to deal differently with a government that does not commit to a two-state solution for making peace with the Palestinians.
“We will be ready to do business as usual, normally with a government in Israel that is prepared to continue talking and working for a two-state solution,” Solana told reporters. “If that is not the case, the situation would be different.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
