Lieberman dumps Olmert

It took a looooong, loooooong time, but at last faux-rightwing political opportunist, Avigdor Lieberman, took his Yisrael Beiteinu party out of the Olmert concessionist government.

(IsraelNN.com) Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Is Our Home) party head Avigdor Lieberman announced at a Wednesday morning press conference that his party is quitting the government.

Lieberman informed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Wednesday that he would resign his position as Minister for Strategic Affairs and lead his party out of the ruling coalition to protest the begin of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority over so-called "core issues": Jerusalem, final status borders and the influx of descendants of Arabs who left their homes during Israel's 1948 War of Independence.

Addressing a press conference at the Knesset, Lieberman praised Olmert for being forthright and open with him whenever they differed on issues, but said Yisrael Beiteinu had set clear red lines for remaining in the coalition.

"On October 27, 2007, a month before the Annapolis Conference, we published our red lines for staying in the government. We were absolutely clear about what it would take to keep our party in the government.

"I met with the prime minister two days before he left for the conference, and 10 days ago I reiterated our red lines yet again: If the government opens negotiations on core issues with the Palestinian Authority, we would leave the government," he said.

Olmert is likely to now move his government even further to the left, probably adding the radical leftwing Meretz Party to strengthen his coalition. Ehud should have the necessary backing in place to make still deeper capitulations to the arabs now without risking new elections. Still, we can hold out a tiny glimmer of hope that the SHAS party will follow Lieberman's exit from the government and cause Olmert's government to possibly fall...still, that seems very remote. The Hareidi parties are basically just corrupt welfare whores looking to sponge off whatever government is in place regardless of the ramifications to Eretz Yisrael.

-MZ