As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces next Wednesday deadline to form a coalition government, Avigdor Lieberman, current Foreign Minister and leader of the Yisrael Beitenu party, said he was resigning from his post and that he would not join the new coalition.
"Unfortunately everything we wanted in coalition agreements and also that which we didn't see brought me to the conclusion that the future will not be a government that serves national interests, but one that serves opportunists," Lieberman said Monday at a press conference in the Knesset.
He said he chose to be in the opposition rather that serve in a government that he called opportunist, conformist and not “nationalistic.”
“We have come to a unanimous decision that it would not be right for us to join the coalition. We chose our principles over cabinet seats,” he said. Lieberman said that Likud made concessions in coalition agreements with other parties that Yisrael Beitenu could not accept.
The announcement was made as Benjamin Netanyahu attempts to cobble together a government before a May 7 deadline.
Yisrael Beitenu’s six seats were thought key to bolstering Netanyahu’s nascent government, which may now have to rule with a razor-thin 61-seat majority.
Netanyahu’s Likud has so far signed coalition agreements only with Kulanu and United Torah Judaism parties, giving him 46 seats. He is considered close to closing deals with Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home and Shas to give him a majority.