Avigdor Liberman, chairman of Yisrael Beytenu, is one of the most fascinating figures in Israeli politics today, having been a fixture of the political scene for the past three decades.
Except for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he is arguably the most experienced politician in Israeli politics, having held virtually every major cabinet position, including minister of defense, foreign affairs, and finance.
Yet, despite his extensive experience, Liberman has thus far failed to break through the glass ceiling on his way to the Prime Minister’s Office.
After first entering the public consciousness as Netanyahu’s director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office following the 1996 election, Liberman decided to enter electoral politics.
Ahead of the 1999 election, he founded Yisrael Beytenu, a right-wing party that represented immigrants from the former Soviet Union and secured four Knesset seats.
Its principal competitor was Yisrael Ba’aliyah, led by Natan Sharansky. In that election, Sharansky supported Labor leader
Ehud Barak’s candidacy for prime minister, while Liberman backed Netanyahu.
Yisrael Beytenu’s 1999 platform called for the adoption of a constitution and a presidential system of government in Israel, alongside the establishment of a constitutional court. The proposal was thwarted by then-Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, who viewed Liberman’s initiative as a “tangible danger to democracy.”
In 2000, Yisrael Beytenu merged with the National Union, and the united list won seven seats in the 2003 election.
Liberman and his party participated intermittently in Ariel Sharon’s governments, and were regarded as the right-wing flank within them.
Disagreements with Sharon led Liberman to leave the government twice, in 2001 and 2002, and once to be dismissed from it, in 2004, because of his opposition to the disengagement plan for the Gaza Strip.
In the 2006 election, Liberman decided that Yisrael Beytenu would run independently, a political decision that proved highly successful, with the party winning 11 seats.
Two issues stood at the center of Liberman’s campaign: territorial exchanges under which Israeli Arabs living in the Triangle and Wadi Ara would become part of a future Palestinian state, and the revocation of citizenship from those who refused to declare loyalty to the state, with particular emphasis on Israel’s Arab citizens (“No loyalty, no citizenship”).
Some regarded Liberman as a far-right politician, prompting protests over prime minister Ehud Olmert’s decision to bring Yisrael Beytenu into the government.
Liberman’s political message was repeated in the 2009 election, in which his party won 15 seats and became the third-largest party in the Knesset. His electoral success led to his appointment as foreign minister in Netanyahu’s government.
Ahead of the 2013 election, the two even joined forces and ran on a united list, “Likud Beytenu,” which won 31 seats, 10 fewer than the polls had initially projected.
‘Likud Beytenu’
The relationship between Netanyahu and Liberman subsequently experienced its share of ups and downs. Liberman eventually dissolved his partnership with Netanyahu and refused to join his government after the 2015 election, in which Yisrael Beytenu won only six seats.
A year later, however, he was appointed defense minister, a position he held until resigning in late 2018 over Netanyahu’s decision to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, which Liberman regarded as a capitulation to terrorism.
Since the first 2019 election, however, Liberman has positioned himself within the bloc opposed to Netanyahu. (The year 2019 was the first time in Israeli history that two national elections were held in the same calendar year).
Many continue to regard Liberman as the central figure responsible for the political crisis that Israel experienced until 2022, during which the country held five rounds of elections.
In conclusion, the 2026 election may represent the 68-year-old Liberman’s swan song. Since the 2015 election, he has failed to establish himself as a viable governing alternative to Netanyahu from the right, winning between five and eight seats in successive elections.
Today, with polls projecting a similar result, Liberman can declare that he is aiming for the premiership, but in practice this appears to be an unrealistic aspiration.
What now lies in Liberman’s hands, however, is the possibility of helping Israel emerge from the political crisis that may follow the election, with most polls projecting that neither bloc will secure the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority without the support of the Arab parties.
Let us hope that this time he will act with the national responsibility that the circumstances require.
The writer is a lecturer and research fellow at the University of South Wales in the United Kingdom. He is the author of Collapse: The Israeli Labor Party, 1992–2024.