Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman said Monday that he would recommend to President Reuven Rivlin that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu form the government if certain conditions were met.
"There was an attempt here in the election campaign to eliminate us from all directions, and we are probably an important part of politics if we managed to upset so many people," Lieberman said.
Lieberman once again wants the defense and absorption portfolios, which his party held for a time in the previous Netanyahu-led government before he resigned over the government's policies pertaining to the Gaza Strip.
Yisrael Beytenu won five Knesset seats in last week's election.
The former defense minister said his recommendation was also dependent on the passage of a highly contested military conscription law in its original form, without making concessions to the ultra-Orthodox Israelis who seek exemption from military service.
"If we face an alternative – to give up the draft law and stay in a coalition or to be in opposition, we will go to elections," Lieberman said Monday evening.
He also promised to pursue a new election law to eliminate tampering at polling stations.
"We have a goal of passing a new election law that will deal with manipulations of the polls in the elections, and the pollsters will be required to properly disclose the parties with whom they work," he said.
He also opposed forming a unity government with the centrist Blue and White party, which regardless vowed on Monday to lead the opposition, refusing to serve in a Netanyahu-led government.
Rivlin is expected on Wednesday night to name the candidate he believes should form the next government, following this week's consultations with the different parties elected to serve in the 21st Knesset.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS. Read more at https://www.i24news.tv/en.
