BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SEEKS ULTRANATIONALISTS FOR COALITION IN ISRAEL:

 In a sharp turnaround, PM Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Wed. 18 May 2016 to bring the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party into his governing coalition by offering to name its leader, Avigdor Lieberman, defense minister, according to politicians across Israel’s political map. Liberman confirmed later in the day that he had accepted Netanyahu's offer to bring the party's six seats into the coalition, expanding it from 61 to 67 seats, in exchange for the defense portfolio and support for certain legislation backed by the party. Lieberman, 57, foreign minister in two previous governments led by Netanyahu, is known as a blunt-talking, polarizing figure. He demands the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of acts of terrorism, and has called in the past for the toppling of Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group that controls Gaza. Netanyahu has been seeking to stabilize and strengthen his governing coalition, which is dominated by right-wing and religious parties, because it currently holds a majority of only one in the 120-seat Knesset. The addition of Yisrael Beiteinu would give Netanyahu’s coalition 67 seats.

The Israeli government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, asserted that Lieberman, who immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union in the 1970s and lives in a Judea & Samaria settlement, had voiced support for a Palestinian state and that a right-wing government would have more credibility with the Israeli public to take difficult steps for peace without fear of compromising Israel’s security. But Lieberman has been scathing in his criticism of President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. He has called for the ouster of Abbas and denounced his campaign for upgraded Palestinian status at the UN as "diplomatic terrorism.” (J.Post/NY Times) Pray for wise and strengthening changes in Israel’s government.