Lieberman blasts Ya'alon: No one takes you seriously
Foreign Minister lashes out at defense minister for first time since expressing desire to take over defense portfolio in next government.
Lieberman's comments mark the first that he has targeted Ya'alon since expressing his desire to take the defense portfolio in the next coalition, No one, said Lieberman, held Moshe Ya'alon in good stead as a politician.
"Ya'alon was an excellent soldier, but unfortunately as defense minister no one takes him seriously," Lieberman said during his appearance at the High Court to appeal against the Central Election Commission ban on his Yisrael Beytenu party distributing the Charlie Hebdo magazine.
Lieberman who repeatedly blasted Ya'alon during Operation Protective Edge last summer, said that the defense minister was not held in high regard anywhere in the world. "Not (by) our Arab neighbors, not Hamas, not Hezbollah or even the Americans. He especially excelled in making gaffes and then running to the Americans to apologize."
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The Yisrael Beytenu leader noted that Ya'alon's conduct against the most recent defense threats did not contribute to Israel's deterrent capability.
"I do not think his behavior regarding Hamas, Hezbollah and the United States added any honor to the State of Israel, to our deterrence, or to the might of the IDF."
As he filed the petition on Monday morning, Lieberman said: "We believe that the decision not to distribute the magazine, both by the Commission and by stores, is surrender to threats, surrender to terrorism, and surrender to extortion.
"A selective approach to freedom of expression is one of the problems of the Israeli left, and I regret that, us aside, nobody is dealing with this issue."
