Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Back to Opinion

S*@#! My Foreign Minister Says: Lieberman’s Speech From the Throne? An On-Air Flush

Say what you will, the guy has class. Ynetnews.com reports that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman took his contrarian, defiant behavior to new heights, or perhaps to new depths, on Monday by flushing the toilet during a radio interview.

The report on Ynet’s Hebrew website, here, includes a 14-second clip of the event, plus an outpouring of reader response at the bottom, about evenly divided between readers who are furious at Ynet (the website of Yediot Ahronot) for attempting to demean the foreign minister, mostly in potty-type invective suggesting that Lieberman has given the media what they deserve, and readers who think he showed his true colors.

A few choice selections:

No. 2: Nu, really. How low can you get? Maybe it was a noise from another room?

No.3: Maybe this is the ringtone on his cellphone.

No. 10: He was showing us what he thinks of the media here and he was right.

No. 60: Showing that Ynet is not CNN

No. 69: Get used to it, he’s the next prime minister

No. 86: A man who can do two things at once?

No. 119: You’ve proven his claim that he is persecuted by the media

No. 120: It’s a good thing he wasn’t interviewed on television

No. 134: Respect! The man works all the time!

No. 147: What bothers me is that his aide has to touch his phone now

No. 148: As much as you try to dump on Lieberman, it won’t help you. He will be the next prime minister. Most of the nation understands that only a true determined Zionist can save this deteriorating state

No. 191: Ynet, you’ve reached the all-time low

No. 206: Dying of laughter! Hilarious!

No. 207: This proves that Lieberman is defecating on all of us

No. 220: Why is this in the culture/entertainment/television section? It’s uncultured, it’s not entertaining and it’s on the radio.

No. 230: This is his fantasy: to flush Hamas down the toilet of history

No. 243: Then you go crying that people are reading Yisrael Hayom

Best biblical reference: No. 210: Ynet, you came to curse but ended by blessing. Look at your readers’ replies. You have lowered yourselves and elevated Lieberman

Runner-up biblical reference No. 162: Lieberman is reenacting the Exodus from Egypt

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Explore

Most Popular

In Case You Missed It

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.