The statement by the chairman of Israel Beitenu, Avigdor Lieberman, that he sees himself as a candidate for Prime Minister after the upcoming elections passed quietly ("Meet the press" on Motzash, "Ofira and Barko" three weeks earlier).
No one raised an eyebrow, no one sneered or giggled at the intention of a mediocre politician, who did not excel in any area of political life or before, to take over the prime minister's throne.
After the looting of the systems that Israeli politics has gone through in the last three years, there is no scenario, no matter how absurd, that seems impossible.
If Bennett achieved the monarchy with six mandates, breaking all the promises to the voter, why doesn't Lieberman think he can too?
After all, he knows how to break promises better than Bennett.
The public in Israel tends to forget, so we should remind them: all the trolling of the last three years is written in Lieberman's name.
In the first election of 2019, everything seemed to go as it should: Lieberman made an effort to flank the Likud from the right (remember the saying "on the right, only the wall", which is a lot to release into the airspace?), but broadcast to everyone - first and foremost to his voters - that his place is in a right-wing government under Netanyahu.
On the night of those elections, I was interviewed in a television studio of one of the channels in the company of a Knesset member from Israel Beitno.
With the publication of the results that gave 65 mandates to the right, and five of them to Lieberman's party, we agreed on the broadcast, along with other interviewees, that the decision was clear: the people gave 65 mandates to the national camp, and that will be the government that will be formed.
It is not known if Lieberman saw the broadcast, but if so - he must have heard the prediction of the "soldier" and laughed at the top of his lungs.
Because even then he had another plan.
As I recall, Lieberman falsified the coalition negotiations at the time, and in the 90th minute announced, completely contrary to his promises: I will not enter a right-wing government.
The clear majority that the national camp received from the voters went down the drain, and with it all the dreams that could be realized in a right-wing government, as long as President Noah sat in the White House - and at the head of it was the application of sovereignty to the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria.
In the following elections, Lieberman went one step further and carried out the largest transfer of mandates between one political camp and another.
The majority of Israeli voters in our home hold right-wing views, and since the second term elections of 2019 Lieberman has been taking their votes and moving them to the left.
With the transition from the right-wing camp to the coalition arms of Meretz and Ram, all his previous promises were erased as nothing. Lieberman promised to accept the people and the world because only he understands Arabic, and that he would grant the citizenship of the Arabs of Israel in a declaration of loyalty? So he promised; he swore to advance the death penalty for terrorists? So He swore; he demanded the offensive to eliminate the ban within 48 hours? So he demanded; Lieberman, according to an old Russian joke, is the sole owner of his word - he gives it at will, and takes it back at will.
In accordance with the unwritten rules of Israel Beitenu, his "soldiers", appointed by him to serve as members of the Knesset, were also forced to go through the transformation.
In their hearts they are all right-wing people, but whoever dares to crack his mouth against the boss's line and mistakenly remember the promises he made to the public, will lose his job.
After his 25 years in politics as an independent actor, it is difficult to find a promise that Lieberman did not break.
The method hasn't changed much - in every election he rode on a central issue that interested the public, only to forget it immediately after it was over.
Thus, for example, his record achievement in 2009 - 15 mandates - was achieved thanks to the banner of guaranteeing personal security and fighting crime.
The dwindling mandates from a year ago were accepted thanks to the banner of upgrading the health system.
The two flags were folded up and sent to the landfill in a wheelbarrow along with all the other flags.
But hey, he wants to be prime minister!
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us