Israel's right digs in to stay in powerWhile we continually recoil in distaste for the Netanyahu administration in Israel, the recently exposed rift between the prime minister and his minister of foreign affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, raise even more disturbing implications. Lieberman is intent on ratcheting up the rivalry between them, making defiant remarks at the UN that peace with the Palestinians is “decades away” while telling the foreign ministers of France and Spain to stay out of Israel's business until they solve their own problems in Europe. It is all an attempt on Lieberman's part to ascend to the leadership of the conservative political movement in Israel, supplanting Netanyahu in that role. Netanyahu has been forced to move toward the center by the US and the EU as they have pressured him to loosen his policies somewhat, engage in peace talks and slow down settlement activity. This has left a gap on the far right that Lieberman is more than happy to fill. Lieberman, nevertheless, has been increasingly sidelined by Netanyahu, which has raised his ire and provoked him to make even more outrageous statements than the world had already heard from him. In the end, this all may turn out to be somewhat academic as Lieberman may well face fraud charges for some of his business dealings that took place before he entered politics. His disappearance from the political stage would be a welcome turn of events for everyone but the small factions in Israel who support his type of extremism. __
