Avigdor Lieberman
Photo: Ministry of Defense
Lieberman calls for boycotting Joint List
Campaign to boycott Knesset speeches by members of the Joint List following their refusal to partake in Shimon Peres’s funeral approved by Prime Minister Netanyahu; Joint List Chairman slams initiative as ‘a new low.’
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has requested from Coalition Leader MK David Bitan to sanction a decision demanding that the coalition boycott the Joint List in the Knesset.
The initiative was formed shortly after the Joint List presided over a boycott of the funeral of Israel’s former President Shimon Peres.
The Yisrael Beytenu leader said that the decision to boycott Peres’s funeral constituted the crossing of a red line and that a decision must be taken to boycott speeches and appearances of its members during a full Knesset session.
Joint Arab List
Lieberman asked one of his fellow party MKs, Oded Forer, to seek the assistance of the Labor party and Yesh Atid and ask that they, as Zionist parties, join the initiative.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acceded to Lieberman’s proposal and instructed that speeches made by MKs from the Joint List be boycotted, at least during the first convening of the Knesset for its opening winter session.
MK Hanin Zoabi (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
The Joint List’s Chairman MK Ayman Odeh heaped criticism on the attempted boycott. “It's a new low from a man whose entire political legacy is based on hatred and division,” Odeh said about Lieberman, who has been at the forefront of a political campaign to mete out punitive political measures against certain members of the Joint List, particularly MK Hanin Zoabi.
MK Ahmad Tibi, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, also let loose on Lieberman. “The defense blabbermouth is still dealing in empty talk and spins,” he said.
