Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'sdramatic announcement of forming a unity government with Kadima under Shaul Mofaz 'sleadership means he is joining forces with a person who spent the past few months positioning himself as one of his biggest rivals.
Mofaz has repeatedly slammed Netanyahu in the past few months going as far as denouncing him as a liar.
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Just three months ago, and prior to winning the Kadima primaries, Mofaz had declared on his Facebook page that he will not join Netanyahu's government under any circumstance.
Rivals turned allies? Netanyahu with Mofaz (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
"Listen up: I won't join Bibi's government," he wrote on March 3. "Not today, not tomorrow and not after I head Kadima on March 28. This is a bad and failed government and Kadima under my leadership will replace it in the next elections. Is that clear enough?"
Mofaz called PM 'liar'
Less than two months earlier, the MK had called the prime minister a liar during a meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Ordering to adjourn the meeting, Mofaz claimed that Netanyahu's staff members had distorted statements he made during the meeting.
He was referring to a claim suggesting he had declared that the IDF chief of staff did not speak the truth regarding the defense budget.
Netanyahu denied the claim, but after the meeting Mofaz declared that "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a liar. No prime minister has ever dared to do what he has done here today."
Mofaz continued to fiercely slam Netanyahu since then. "Netanyahu has failed and now is the time to restore hope again," he said less than two weeks ago. "The days of the Netanyahu administration are numbered."
In a separate instance, members of Mofaz's staff said that Netanyahu has become an insignificant leader in the Middle East.
"I think Netanyahu is not trustworthy," he said on another occasion. "I don't trust his judgment on any matter."