Yisrael Beitenu party leader Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman admitted being surprised when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced he is backing Reuven Rivlin’s bid for the presidency. Lieberman added that his will not follow for his party does not wish to see Rivlin in the President’s Residence.

Being that Yisrael Beitenu and Likud are unofficially partners, the foreign minister has stated in the past that whomever the prime minister backs in the presidential race, his party will follow but this was based on the premise Mr. Netanyahu was not going to back Rivlin, who he does not really wish to see as the nation’s next president.

Lieberman is quick to explain that he has nothing personally against Rivlin, adding he backed him against President Shimon Peres in the last presidential race but today, he does not agree with Rivlin’s political position. Lieberman adds that when Rivlin became Knesset speaker in the last Knesset it became clear to him and his party colleagues that he is not their man. He refers to Rivlin making his first official visit as speaker to Um el-Fahm. There were other issues too, including Rivlin’s opposition to stripping former Arab MK Azmi Bishara of his pension after it was learned he was passing classified information to Hizbullah in the Second Lebanese War. http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/israel-news/33296/interior-minister-wishes-to-yank-bishara%E2%80%99s-citizenship.html

Lieberman told the press his party members will convene in the coming days to decide who to back in the presidential race.

It is clear to all that Netanyahu does not wish to see Rivlin in the president’s seat but he realized he was losing too much support in his party by refusing to back the veteran Likud candidate. This compelled the prime minister to make the announcement but since the actual vote is a secret ballot, no one will really know who the prime minister votes for.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)