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Israel’s Prime Minister versus Defense Minister

Different versions of how bad the Iran deal is for Israel
[additional-authors]
August 8, 2016

This article originally appeared on The Media Line.

Imagine that US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter gave a press conference openly contradicting President Obama. It is hard to believe that he would keep his job for more than a few hours.

That is exactly what happened in Israel over the weekend. Israel’s relatively new Defense Minister, hardliner Avigdor Liberman, compared the year-old Iran nuclear deal to the 1938 Munich agreement, saying it was a mistake to believe that Nazi Germany could be a partner in any peace agreement.

“These things are also true about Iran, which also clearly states openly that its aim is to destroy the state of Israel,” a statement by the Defense Ministry said. It added that the deal reached with Iran “only damages the uncompromising struggle we must make against terrorist states like Iran.” 

The controversial remarks were made in response to a statement by President Obama that Israeli security officials now think the nuclear deal, in which Iran gave up much of its nuclear program in exchange for the US lifting many of the economic sanctions against Iran. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had campaigned hard against the deal, but rushed to distance himself from Liberman’s statements.

While Israel’s position on the Iran nuclear deal remains unchanged, Netanyahu said, “Israel has no greater ally than the United States.” The US and Israel must work together, he continued to make sure Iran does not violate the deal.

Netanyahu also said he “looks forward to translating those goals into a common policy, and to further strengthening the alliance between Israel and the United States, with President Obama, and with the next US administration.

“Netanyahu thinks the same thing but he just can’t say it,” Gil Hoffman, chief political correspondent of The Jerusalem Post told The Media Line, speaking about Liberman’s comments. “Liberman doesn’t need to get along with Obama, but Netanyahu does. According to the screensaver on Netanyahu’s computer Obama still has 165 days, three hours and 18 minutes left.”

The dispute between Israel’s two most senior politicians tells the story of Israel’s fractious parliamentary democracy. As no party is usually able to win an overall majority, Israel’s hopeful leaders must cobble together a coalition government, often giving the coalition partners power to make or break the government.

“One hand doesn’t know what the other is doing,” Gideon Rahat, a professor of political science at Hebrew University told The Media Line. “They are not coordinating and each one is just saying what he wants. These things add up and contribute to tension in the government.”

Israel has a tradition of governments rarely completing their full terms, and coalition partners either bringing down the government or the Prime Minister calling an early election to solidify his power.

In this case, Rahat said, it will not be the “straw that broke the camel’s back.” Hoffman agreed, saying, “It’s Sunday in America, and besides, everyone is just waiting to see what is the next thing that (Donald) Trump is going to say.

Netanyahu and Liberman have never much liked each other. The political alliance is clearly a marriage of convenience, and Liberman is clearly angling to become Prime Minister one day.

At the same time, Netanyahu is always looking for new possible coalition partners. He has made overtures to opposition leader Isaac Herzog, offering him the Foreign Ministry in exchange for joining the government. If Liberman keeps pushing Netanyahu, he could try even harder to get Herzog to join.

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