Former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told i24NEWS that his Yisrael Beytenu would support any candidate for premier who vowed to form a national unity government without ultra-Orthodox parties or "radicals."
After refusing to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition after the April election, ostensibly over ultra-Orthodox military conscription, Lieberman has made the need to end "religious coercion" in Israel a central part of his platform.
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With polls predicting his secular, right-wing Yisrael Beytenu to become the third-largest party in the next Knesset, Lieberman is poised to be something of a kingmaker, with a significant amount of weight to leverage in coalition negotiations.
"To be very clear, our target in the coming elections is to establish a national unity government without Orthodox [parties] and without radicals," Lieberman said.
Yet while Lieberman said he believes he has the experience and knowledge necessary to assume the role of prime minister himself, he knows "it is not our time."
"I am trying to be realistic, it is not our time. I think I have enough experience and enough knowledge; maybe only the prime minister has more experience and knowledge about the political system than me."
"But today, I think we will remain the third-largest party and we will wait until the next elections to be the first party."
'Capitulation to terror'
Lieberman said that although though he would be willing to join a Netanyahu-led government, the two remain politically divided on a number of issues, and security in particular.
Lieberman has frequently slammed the Israeli leader for his "weak" policy on the Gaza Strip, which he equates to a "capitulation to terror."
"We really have the wrong policy from our prime minister," Lieberman told i24NEWS.
He said, "For the first time, we see the State of Israel ready to pay terrorists" in order to maintain calm on its southern border. "It is a huge mistake and has damaged our deterrence capability, with very bad consequences for the long run," he added.
Under an informal agreement brokered last year, Israel agreed to ease restrictions on the blockaded enclave in exchange for calm. The agreement includes Qatari cash transfers to Gaza, along with fuel deliveries coordinated by the UN.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
