Free Republic

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Thursday that he wants former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) to consider a third-party presidential bid with No Labels after Christie ended his GOP campaign. Lieberman, chair of No Labels, brushed off previous comments from Christie denouncing the group’s push for a bipartisan third-party ticket. “Look, earlier in the year when he was asked about No Labels, he basically said it was not an effort that had any chance of succeeding, but maybe the world will look different to him now,” Lieberman said in a SiriusXM interview with Michael Smerconish. “And I’d like...

Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman commented on the continued hostilities in Gaza and declared that the Oslo Accords could be considered defunct. "The 30-year-long Oslo experiment, in which we paid a heavy price in human lives, has come to its end," he wrote. "The recent events have proved beyond all doubt that a serial Holocaust denier, and someone who refused to denounce the October 7th massacre with even a single word, neither can nor should rule in Judea and Samaria, or the Gaza Strip." "We must say the truth: Two states for two peoples, a Palestinian nation, and giving...

This week marked a turning point in the Israeli government’s response to the Omicron variant, beginning with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Sunday evening address warning of a “fifth wave” of the coronavirus and hinting of a possible lockdown this winter. ..... During deliberations this week, Health Ministry officials spoke with senior government officials, working to convince ministers to back far-reaching steps to contain the Omicron variant. On Tuesday night, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) revealed some of the startling data provided by a senior Health Ministry official, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, chief of the public health department within the Ministry. “Seven...

After months of attacking each other and not speaking, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nemesis, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, will meet on Thursday morning at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. Netanyahu repeatedly told Likud leaders that there is no point in speaking to Liberman, because the Yisrael Beytenu leader is determined to end the prime minister's political career. But after Blue and White leader Benny Gantz canceled a meeting with Netanyahu, he called Liberman on Wednesday evening. "There is no point in wasting the country's time," Netanyahu told Liberman. "We will meet and see if it is...

Kulanu party leader Moshe Kahlon told Prime Minister Netanyahu that he will not accept Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett serving as defense minister, following the resignation of current defense minister, Avigdor Liberman. On Wednesday, Bennett issued an ultimatum to the Prime Minister, saying his Jewish Home faction will quit the coalition if he is not appointed defense minister. If Bennett's ultimatum holds, Kahlon's veto likely signals that early elections are on the way. "Bennett doesn't have it coming to get the Defense Ministry portfolio. I'm opposed to it," Kahlon told Netanyahu. Bennett told confidants in response that he will not...

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) on Saturday said that Israel will not provide fuel or gas to Gaza if conflicts continue. Liberman halted the transfer of fuel to Gaza on Friday, after several Gaza terrorists who detonated a bomb on the Israel-Gaza border fence and attacked an IDF position inside Israel. "As long as the violence in Gaza - including sending incendiary balloons and burning tires opposite Israeli towns - does not cease completely, we will not renew the provision of fuels and gas to Gaza," Liberman tweeted. Earlier on Saturday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that conflict...

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman addressed Gaza residents via the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major General Kamil Abu Rokun's Facebook page via the Al Monaseq website. "I distinguish between Hamas leadership and the ordinary residents of Gaza," Liberman wrote. "Therefore, I decided to open the Kerem Shalom crossing and extend the fishing area back to 9 miles, as a clear message to Gaza's residents: Quiet pays off and violence doesn't pay off. The residents of Gaza have something to gain when Israeli citizens enjoy quiet and security, and something to lose when the peace is disturbed. "The people...

Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman told Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday night that he “expects to see the U.S. Embassy at its new location in Jerusalem soon”. The comment came on the heels of a factfinding mission by two Republican senators to Jerusalem last weekend. The members of the House Subcommittee on National Security affirmed during the trip, which included scouting locations for the embassy, that President Donald Trump would not veto the Jerusalem Embassy Act when it comes up for review again in May. Liberman and Pence met at the White House during Liberman’s short visit to Washington...

Newly sworn in Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman was quick to announce on Monday evening that he supports the “two-state solution” to solve the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict. In a joint statement, Liberman and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed support for the recent call by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for the sides to reach a peace agreement. “I am committed to peace with our Palestinian neighbors and with all our neighbors,” the Prime Minister said in the statement. “The Arab peace initiative includes essential elements that can help restore constructive negotiations with the Palestinians. We are ready to negotiate with the...

Hundreds of far leftists held a protest on Saturday night at Tel Aviv's Habima Square, demonstrating against MK Avigdor Liberman being appointed Defense Minister as part of his Yisrael Beytenu party joining the coalition government. Present at the protest was MK Tamar Zandberg (Meretz), former Labor MK Yael Dayan, chairperson of Meretz's management Ori Zachi - and counter-protesting the radical leftists, nationalist rap star Yoav Eliasi, better known by his stage name Hatzel. The leftist protesters bore signs reading "Liberman is a fascist," "the disaster government, we don't want any more victims," and "Liberman is war minister." Invitations to the...

Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has accepted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s offer to join the coalition in return for the Defense and Immigration ministries, senior Yisrael Beytenu officials said on Wendesday. According to senior officials, the Prime Minister’s meeting Wednesday afternoon with Liberman has already laid the groundwork for Yisrael Beytenu’s entry into the government. Shortly after the meeting, Netanyahu reportedly called Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, informing him that Liberman had requested the Defense Ministry in exchange for his support of the Likud government. Senior officials have leaked details of the meeting, including Netanyahu’s offer to Liberman, which includes two...

Opposition leader and Zionist Union party chief Yitzhak Herzog has announced he is suspending unity government talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, after the premier issued an invitation to begin talks with Yisrael Beytenu party head Avigdor Liberman. n a markedly abrupt, pithy press conference, Herzog said Netanyahu faced a choice between "going to war and funerals, and the victory of (Avigdor) Liberman and (Naftali) Bennett, or the track of hope" - namely, inviting the Zionist Union party to join the coalition instead. "These are the choices - there are no other options," he added. "We won't continue negotiations at...

If the foreign minister thinks the prime minister is doing a lousy job, he should either shut up when outvoted or quit, not publicly undermine the PM at the height of a bitter conflict with Hamas. Israel is currently a nation at war. It has been targeted with some 1,300 rockets over the past eight days fired at its population almost everywhere in the country. Untenably, on Tuesday, Liberman sought to score points at the expense of Israelis’ faith in their leadership. Whether his prescription for Gaza is right or wrong — does Israel really want to reconquer Gaza and...

Liberman at JPost Conference: I'd rather go to new elections than release Palestinian terrorists

Israeli Arab leaders continued to drum up opposition on Thursday to Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s proposal that Israel offer the Palestinian Authority control over townships inhabited predominantly by Palestinians in exchange for settlements in the West Bank. During a demonstration against the Prawer-Begin Plan for Beduin resettlement, MK Ahmed Tibi lambasted “the immigrant” Liberman. “Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s statements regarding territorial swaps are provocative,” Tibi said. “We [Arabs] were in the Triangle before the establishment of the State of Israel. We didn’t come here on boats or planes.” “Liberman is an immigrant,” Tibi said. “If he wants to repartition the...

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) called for the recapture of Samer Issawi, the jailed terrorist who was released Monday after a 266 day hunger strike. Just after his release, Liberman notes that Issawi called for the kidnapping of IDF soldiers, saying "the release of prisoners will only be achieved through kidnapping and prisoner exchange deals, nothing will be achieved without that." ..... In 2002 Issawi was sentenced to 26 years in jail for terrorism, going free after a mere 10 years in the deal to free Gilad Shalit. After signing a promise not to return to terrorist activities, Issawi...

Opposition leader MK Yitzchak Herzog (Labor) on Saturday accused Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman of trying to sabotage the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Herzog, who is currently in Washington where he will meet with National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Secretary of State John Kerry, was responding to Liberman’s remarks at the Saban Forum on Friday, where the Foreign Minister said that peace was impossible in the near future, because there was “zero trust” between the two sides. Herzog called on Liberman to undergo a “reality check”, saying that the Foreign Minister “should remember that even if...

MK Ahmed Tibi on Saturday night slammed Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman over his remarks following the Bedouin violent ‘Day of Rage’. "The audacity of a fascist immigrant who sits on land which he stole from its Arab owners,” Tibi charged, responding to Liberman’s remarks that the Bedouin had stolen state land and were controlling it by force. “The Bedouin in the Negev did steal any land and they did not come here either on a plane or by boat,” he added. In his comments following the violent protests in the Negev, Haifa, Samaria and Gaza, Liberman called for a new...

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, begins at sundown Saturday. But there's already cause for celebration among Jewish basketball fans thanks to Aaron Liberman, a freshman walk-on at Northwestern who also happens to be an Orthodox Jew. He hasn't yet appeared in a game this season because of a nasty case of shin splints, but he's easy to spot on the bench: He's the one wearing a yarmulke. Uni Watch When Liberman is eventually given medical clearance to make his Northwestern debut, which he expects will be "pretty soon," he plans to wear his yarmulke on the court. (Northwestern is...

Senate rejects Nelson amendment on abortion