Israel Matzav

If Lieberman convicted, Steinitz to be Foreign Minister; current 'deputy' doesn't speak English!

JPost is reporting that if Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (for whom Prime Minister Netanyahu is holding the seat) is convicted in his corruption trial, former Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz will become Foreign Minister.

The title of international affairs minister that the Likud’s Yuval Steinitz received could be a stepping stone to the Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reassured Steinitz this week, Likud sources revealed exclusively to The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.

The sources said that at a marathon meeting with Netanyahu on Sunday, in which Steinitz let Silvan Shalom have the Energy and Water Ministry, Steinitz raised the issue of what would happen if Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman is convicted.

...

If Liberman is convicted, multiple Likud ministers will seek the Foreign Ministry, including Steinitz, Gideon Sa’ar, Gilad Erdan, and Shalom, who held the post under former prime minister Ariel Sharon. But Likud sources said Netanyahu’s mind was made up, and he made clear to Steinitz that the job would be his.

As to Lieberman, between his interests and the country's interests, guess whose interests he has chosen to protect.

Liberman did not permit Netanyahu to appoint another minister in the Foreign Ministry during his absence and insisted that MK Ze’ev Elkin be appointed deputy foreign minister, even though he does not speak English.

Where have we heard something like that before? 

Steinitz is not a bad choice. He has a PhD from Tel Aviv University and has written extensively on military and strategic affairs. Prior to serving as Finance Minister, he chaired the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. He is probably one of the most competent MK's in the Knesset.

And from Netanyahu's perspective, Steinitz is known as a Netanyahu loyalist....

I wish I could tell you that the rest of our cabinet ministers are fit for their positions:

A poll sponsored by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) and Tel Aviv University found that a majority of Jewish Israelis (56%) believe that Yair Lapid is not suited to be finance minister, while 33% think he is. Even among Yesh Atid voters, 50% believe he is not suited while 42% think he is.

Jewish Israelis are closely divided on Tzipi Livni’s suitability to coordinate negotiations with the Palestinians, with 46% seeing her as suitable and 50% seeing her as not. Nearly all Hatnua voters (95%) see her as suitable for this role.

More than two-thirds (69%) of Jewish Israelis supported a coalition with Yesh Atid and Bayit Yehudi, while the ultra-Orthodox parties remain outside; a minority (28%) opposed this.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Avigdor Lieberman, Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's Foreign Ministry, Israeli Knesset, Yuval Steinitz

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:53 AM