BICOM

Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman was yesterday sworn in as Israel’s Foreign Minister after the Knesset approved his reappointment.

Lieberman stood down as Foreign Minister last December, after being charged with fraud and breach of trust in an affair involving Israel’s former ambassador to Belarus. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the position vacant following January’s election, in anticipation of Lieberman’s acquittal last week. The cabinet approved Lieberman’s reappointment on Sunday and this was confirmed yesterday by a Knesset vote of 62 members in favour and 17 against.

Netanyahu welcomed Lieberman’s return to office at a Likud-Beitenu faction meeting, saying “I’ve missed him there… We have a lot of work to do, big tests and big challenges. It’s important that we cooperate.” However, during the Knesset debate, Labour Party leadership candidate MK Issac Herzog said, “Lieberman was the worst foreign minister in Israel’s history. I don’t understand why he’s being brought back.” Meretz leader MK Zahava Galon commented, “Lieberman is an explosive that will blow up under the wheels of the peace process.”

In returning to the foreign ministry, Lieberman has vacated the chairmanship of the influential Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee (FADC) and political jostling has already begun over appointing his successor. Yesh Atid claims that as Yisrael Beitenu now has an additional minister, upsetting the balance of power within the coalition, its faction chairman MK Ofer Shelah should fill the position and Yesh Atid’s Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri should be added to Netanyhau’s security cabinet. However, it is thought that Netanyahu is keen to appoint Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi to chair the FADC. Hanegbi is considered close to Netanyahu and served in the role from 2006-10. Coalition chairman Yariv Levin is also considered a candidate, while Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin is expected to remain in his current position.