23 apr 2009
The Lieberman laxative is a bitter pill, meant for die-hard, old-style peace processors, which flushes away the Annapolis process, the Arab League initiative, Oslo residue and more
The barnstorming Avigdor Lieberman has capitalized on his inauguration as Foreign Minister to flush away the Annapolis process, the Arab League initiative, Oslo residue and more. He wants the world, wedded to conventional wisdom regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, to lower its expectations of Israeli concessions and imminent breakthroughs.
He is dispensing a powerful purgative drug, which we might call the Lieberman laxative.
Here is the fine print on the regulatory packaging for this sugarless spoonful of medicine:
Therapeutic activity: For stimulating the mind, loosening entrenched thinking, and washing out stale diplomatic processes. Shoots the patient with a dose of realism, and shocks the digestive system into readiness to absorb new diplomatic approaches.
Composition: Each capsule contains 15 mg of laxative (for catharsis, to clear the mind of hallucinatory solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially those that demand immediate and far-reaching Israeli withdrawals); 30 mg of amphetamine (fuels feverish diplomatic reassessment); and 200 mg of 70-proof Russian vodka (helps stomach the drug).
When should this preparation be used?: Take after fifteen years of Oslo and Annapolis sugar-highs; repeated and unsuccessful attempts to bribe the Palestinians into some semblance of political maturity and willingness to compromise; failed Israeli withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza that led to the establishment of Iranian missile bases for attacking Israel; the emergence of a radical Islamic government in Gaza and its possible takeover of the West Bank; and the imminent development of a nuclear weapon in Teheran.
This cleansing agent is especially necessary when, despite all the above, global political leaders appear incapable of recognizing the changed landscape and drawing the relevant conclusions. Prescribe for special envoys and statesmen who still believe that a comprehensive solution to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians can be brought about, or forced on Israel, soon.
When taken under responsible political supervision, the Lieberman laxative can be a useful precursor drug that empties and neutralizes the regional playing field and paves the way for a more realistic peace process. Like colonic hydrotherapy, it can clear the way for a much-needed “bottom-up” (pun intended) institution- and capacity-building effort in the Palestinian Authority. It can assist in achieving reasonable conflict management in the near-term and in crafting creative final status solutions for the long-term.
Some studies have showed that this drug improves political eyesight, and helps overcome lackadaisical attitudes regarding the Iranian nuclear threat. (Apparently, the Egyptians have been taking this drug; and recently threw-off all pretensions of love for their Iranian and Hezbollah brothers). The drug may also prevent the patient from taking wild leaps of faith and projecting all his good intentions onto the adversary . (All Westerners negotiating with Teheran should get prescriptions for this drug).
Warnings: This is a bitter pill for die-hard, old-style peace processors to swallow after so many years of Oslo-mania. Some diplomatic tensions are inevitable. Almost all patients will experience a degree of trauma. Side effects may include expressions of diplomatic outrage, condemnation, even boycott and isolation, at least in the short term. Contact your doctor immediately if rash, inflammation or war develops. Do not drive or make major public policy pronouncements on the Middle East until the initial shock of the drug has worn off. This preparation will not work on the politically blind.
Dosage: Start with a full dose for maximum stun effect, then reduce the dosage to allow for dialogue and compromise. If there is no improvement in your condition within a few months or if your condition worsens, repeat and raise the dosage after consulting with cabinet colleagues.
How can you contribute to the success of the treatment?: Refrain from panicking about difficult global reaction to the purging. Disregard the partisans — such as Haaretz’s Akiva Eldar or The New York Times’ Roger Cohen — who warn of (nay, they wish for!) an impending showdown with Washington.
At the same time, note that this laxative leaves the body wasted and vulnerable to attack. Treatment should be quickly followed by additional drugs to fortify the constitution and by new policies to fill the diplomatic vacuum. Fruitless talks about grand political horizons with the Palestinians should be replaced by pragmatic Israeli initiatives. Take advantage of the turning point to grab the upper hand and lead regional diplomacy.
Avoid poisoning your most important friends, like the US, by engaging in serious consultations shortly after availing yourself of this remedy. Do not induce vomiting by overuse. Prolonged use will lead foes to dismiss you as a provocateur or an obstruction to peace. Limit the foreign minster’s access to this medicine. Store it safely in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post on Friday April 24, 2009
The barnstorming Avigdor Lieberman has capitalized on his inauguration as Foreign Minister to flush away the Annapolis process, the Arab League initiative, Oslo residue and more. He wants the world, wedded to conventional wisdom regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, to lower its expectations of Israeli concessions and imminent breakthroughs.
He is dispensing a powerful purgative drug, which we might call the Lieberman laxative.
Here is the fine print on the regulatory packaging for this sugarless spoonful of medicine:
Therapeutic activity: For stimulating the mind, loosening entrenched thinking, and washing out stale diplomatic processes. Shoots the patient with a dose of realism, and shocks the digestive system into readiness to absorb new diplomatic approaches.
Composition: Each capsule contains 15 mg of laxative (for catharsis, to clear the mind of hallucinatory solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially those that demand immediate and far-reaching Israeli withdrawals); 30 mg of amphetamine (fuels feverish diplomatic reassessment); and 200 mg of 70-proof Russian vodka (helps stomach the drug).
When should this preparation be used?: Take after fifteen years of Oslo and Annapolis sugar-highs; repeated and unsuccessful attempts to bribe the Palestinians into some semblance of political maturity and willingness to compromise; failed Israeli withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza that led to the establishment of Iranian missile bases for attacking Israel; the emergence of a radical Islamic government in Gaza and its possible takeover of the West Bank; and the imminent development of a nuclear weapon in Teheran.
This cleansing agent is especially necessary when, despite all the above, global political leaders appear incapable of recognizing the changed landscape and drawing the relevant conclusions. Prescribe for special envoys and statesmen who still believe that a comprehensive solution to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians can be brought about, or forced on Israel, soon.
When taken under responsible political supervision, the Lieberman laxative can be a useful precursor drug that empties and neutralizes the regional playing field and paves the way for a more realistic peace process. Like colonic hydrotherapy, it can clear the way for a much-needed “bottom-up” (pun intended) institution- and capacity-building effort in the Palestinian Authority. It can assist in achieving reasonable conflict management in the near-term and in crafting creative final status solutions for the long-term.
Some studies have showed that this drug improves political eyesight, and helps overcome lackadaisical attitudes regarding the Iranian nuclear threat. (Apparently, the Egyptians have been taking this drug; and recently threw-off all pretensions of love for their Iranian and Hezbollah brothers). The drug may also prevent the patient from taking wild leaps of faith and projecting all his good intentions onto the adversary . (All Westerners negotiating with Teheran should get prescriptions for this drug).
Warnings: This is a bitter pill for die-hard, old-style peace processors to swallow after so many years of Oslo-mania. Some diplomatic tensions are inevitable. Almost all patients will experience a degree of trauma. Side effects may include expressions of diplomatic outrage, condemnation, even boycott and isolation, at least in the short term. Contact your doctor immediately if rash, inflammation or war develops. Do not drive or make major public policy pronouncements on the Middle East until the initial shock of the drug has worn off. This preparation will not work on the politically blind.
Dosage: Start with a full dose for maximum stun effect, then reduce the dosage to allow for dialogue and compromise. If there is no improvement in your condition within a few months or if your condition worsens, repeat and raise the dosage after consulting with cabinet colleagues.
How can you contribute to the success of the treatment?: Refrain from panicking about difficult global reaction to the purging. Disregard the partisans — such as Haaretz’s Akiva Eldar or The New York Times’ Roger Cohen — who warn of (nay, they wish for!) an impending showdown with Washington.
At the same time, note that this laxative leaves the body wasted and vulnerable to attack. Treatment should be quickly followed by additional drugs to fortify the constitution and by new policies to fill the diplomatic vacuum. Fruitless talks about grand political horizons with the Palestinians should be replaced by pragmatic Israeli initiatives. Take advantage of the turning point to grab the upper hand and lead regional diplomacy.
Avoid poisoning your most important friends, like the US, by engaging in serious consultations shortly after availing yourself of this remedy. Do not induce vomiting by overuse. Prolonged use will lead foes to dismiss you as a provocateur or an obstruction to peace. Limit the foreign minster’s access to this medicine. Store it safely in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post on Friday April 24, 2009
19 feb 2009
Associated PressIsrael's Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman is seen before giving a speech at the 'Conference of Presidents' in Jerusalem, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. Far-right Israeli politician Lieberman endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister on Thursday.
Benjamin Netanyahu won the endorsement Thursday of an anti-Arab politician who emerged from Israel's election as a kingmaker, virtually ensuring that the hawkish, U.S.-educated politician will once again become prime minister.
The big question is whether Netanyahu will be able to build the broad coalition he will likely need to stay in power and avoid clashing with the Obama administration and much of the world.
With his top rival, centrist Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, signaling that she would enter the opposition, Netanyahu's prospects for such a coalition do not look good. He will probably have little choice but to forge a coalition with nationalist and religious parties opposed to peacemaking with the Palestinians and Israel's other Arab neighbors.
One major Orthodox Jewish party, Shas, also threw its support to Netanyahu, joining a group of similar movements that did the same.
"Today the foundations were laid for an extremist right-wing government under the leadership of Netanyahu," Livni said in a text message to 80,000 members of her Kadima Party. "That is not our way and there is nothing for us in such a government... We must be an alternative of hope and go into opposition."
If Livni stays out of Netanyahu's government, it would almost surely hurt Netanyahu's credibility with the United States and Europe. And his hold on power would be more tenuous in a narrow coalition of rightists, with hard-line allies threatening to bring down his government in the face of any concession for peace.
Livni seeks a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians, a position supported by the Obama administration, while Netanyahu's partner on the right, Avigdor Lieberman, has drawn opprobrium with his call for Israel's 1 million Arabs to swear allegiance to the Jewish state or lose their citizenship.
One reason that a rightist government could be unstable is that Lieberman's secular agenda puts him squarely at odds with religious parties like Shas, clouding prospects.
Also Thursday, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., traveled to the Gaza Strip, the highest-level visit by a U.S. official since the Hamas militant group seized power in the territory nearly two years ago. He did not meet with anyone from Hamas, which the U.S. shuns as a terrorist group, and used the visit to urge the group to end its violence against Israel.
Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) Party finished third in the Feb. 10 election, after Kadima and Netanyahu's Likud Party. That essentially allowed him to determine whether Netanyahu or Livni would be able to muster the backing of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament.
Lieberman's stance toward Arabs has exposed him to charges of racism, and many see him as a far-right extremist. However, he is opposed to the Orthodox Jewish establishment's control over key aspects of public life in Israel, one of several positions that has enabled him to find common ground with moderates.
While announcing support for Netanyahu, Lieberman said he preferred a national unity government that included Livni over a narrow coalition of right wingers.
"We need a wide government with the three big parties, Likud, Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu," Lieberman said. "Netanyahu will lead the government but it will be a government of Netanyahu and Livni together."
Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, held talks with political parties before choosing a candidate to form a government. If he names Netanyahu, as seems likely, then Netanyahu will have six weeks to create a coalition.
Putting together a broad, centrist government would be a tall order for Netanyahu.
Livni has said she will not join Netanyahu unless she can be an equal partner, presumably through the sort of "rotation" agreement Israel has tried in the past in which an election's top two winners each get to be prime minister for two years.
Both Netanyahu and Lieberman -- buoyed by the clear majority for the hawkish parties -- have ruled out a rotation.
It's also unlikely the hard-liners would agree to Livni's key demand for pressing ahead with peace talks with the Palestinians and Syria.
The other possibility for a broad coalition -- an alliance of Likud, Kadima and the center-left Labor Party -- is also a longshot. Labor's leader, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, has already said he will sit in opposition.
All this will pressure Netanyahu to rely on the sort of narrow coalition whose members could dictate or torpedo policy and force him from office on a whim -- especially if he adopts any conciliatory policies toward the Palestinians that his ultranationalist partners oppose.
"If Netanyahu wants cohesion and peace among the ranks of his coalition, that would mean isolation from the rest of the world," said political scientist Menachem Hofnung. "If he wants to avoid international condemnation and isolation, then he will face cracks and dissent from within his coalition."
Hofnung said he believes Netanyahu will ultimately give in to Livni's demands for joining the government.
Netanyahu showed a pragmatic side as prime minister from 1996-99, meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and ceding part of the biblically significant West Bank city of Hebron to Palestinian control.
However, the Likud leader says he will allow existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank to expand. He recently told a security conference that any territory Israel relinquished to the Palestinians in a peace deal would be "grabbed by extremists."
He says peace efforts should focus on building the Palestinian economy rather than creating an independent state -- a nonstarter for the Palestinians and one of several stances that could put him at odds with Obama.
In forming a coalition, Netanyahu has said he would turn to religious and nationalist parties. But he has also expressed support for a government that reflects a broad national consensus.
Kadima edged out Likud in the election, capturing 28 seats to Likud's 27. But Likud is in a better position to make a coalition because of gains by Lieberman and other hard-line parties.
Benjamin Netanyahu won the endorsement Thursday of an anti-Arab politician who emerged from Israel's election as a kingmaker, virtually ensuring that the hawkish, U.S.-educated politician will once again become prime minister.
The big question is whether Netanyahu will be able to build the broad coalition he will likely need to stay in power and avoid clashing with the Obama administration and much of the world.
With his top rival, centrist Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, signaling that she would enter the opposition, Netanyahu's prospects for such a coalition do not look good. He will probably have little choice but to forge a coalition with nationalist and religious parties opposed to peacemaking with the Palestinians and Israel's other Arab neighbors.
One major Orthodox Jewish party, Shas, also threw its support to Netanyahu, joining a group of similar movements that did the same.
"Today the foundations were laid for an extremist right-wing government under the leadership of Netanyahu," Livni said in a text message to 80,000 members of her Kadima Party. "That is not our way and there is nothing for us in such a government... We must be an alternative of hope and go into opposition."
If Livni stays out of Netanyahu's government, it would almost surely hurt Netanyahu's credibility with the United States and Europe. And his hold on power would be more tenuous in a narrow coalition of rightists, with hard-line allies threatening to bring down his government in the face of any concession for peace.
Livni seeks a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians, a position supported by the Obama administration, while Netanyahu's partner on the right, Avigdor Lieberman, has drawn opprobrium with his call for Israel's 1 million Arabs to swear allegiance to the Jewish state or lose their citizenship.
One reason that a rightist government could be unstable is that Lieberman's secular agenda puts him squarely at odds with religious parties like Shas, clouding prospects.
Also Thursday, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., traveled to the Gaza Strip, the highest-level visit by a U.S. official since the Hamas militant group seized power in the territory nearly two years ago. He did not meet with anyone from Hamas, which the U.S. shuns as a terrorist group, and used the visit to urge the group to end its violence against Israel.
Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) Party finished third in the Feb. 10 election, after Kadima and Netanyahu's Likud Party. That essentially allowed him to determine whether Netanyahu or Livni would be able to muster the backing of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament.
Lieberman's stance toward Arabs has exposed him to charges of racism, and many see him as a far-right extremist. However, he is opposed to the Orthodox Jewish establishment's control over key aspects of public life in Israel, one of several positions that has enabled him to find common ground with moderates.
While announcing support for Netanyahu, Lieberman said he preferred a national unity government that included Livni over a narrow coalition of right wingers.
"We need a wide government with the three big parties, Likud, Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu," Lieberman said. "Netanyahu will lead the government but it will be a government of Netanyahu and Livni together."
Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, held talks with political parties before choosing a candidate to form a government. If he names Netanyahu, as seems likely, then Netanyahu will have six weeks to create a coalition.
Putting together a broad, centrist government would be a tall order for Netanyahu.
Livni has said she will not join Netanyahu unless she can be an equal partner, presumably through the sort of "rotation" agreement Israel has tried in the past in which an election's top two winners each get to be prime minister for two years.
Both Netanyahu and Lieberman -- buoyed by the clear majority for the hawkish parties -- have ruled out a rotation.
It's also unlikely the hard-liners would agree to Livni's key demand for pressing ahead with peace talks with the Palestinians and Syria.
The other possibility for a broad coalition -- an alliance of Likud, Kadima and the center-left Labor Party -- is also a longshot. Labor's leader, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, has already said he will sit in opposition.
All this will pressure Netanyahu to rely on the sort of narrow coalition whose members could dictate or torpedo policy and force him from office on a whim -- especially if he adopts any conciliatory policies toward the Palestinians that his ultranationalist partners oppose.
"If Netanyahu wants cohesion and peace among the ranks of his coalition, that would mean isolation from the rest of the world," said political scientist Menachem Hofnung. "If he wants to avoid international condemnation and isolation, then he will face cracks and dissent from within his coalition."
Hofnung said he believes Netanyahu will ultimately give in to Livni's demands for joining the government.
Netanyahu showed a pragmatic side as prime minister from 1996-99, meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and ceding part of the biblically significant West Bank city of Hebron to Palestinian control.
However, the Likud leader says he will allow existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank to expand. He recently told a security conference that any territory Israel relinquished to the Palestinians in a peace deal would be "grabbed by extremists."
He says peace efforts should focus on building the Palestinian economy rather than creating an independent state -- a nonstarter for the Palestinians and one of several stances that could put him at odds with Obama.
In forming a coalition, Netanyahu has said he would turn to religious and nationalist parties. But he has also expressed support for a government that reflects a broad national consensus.
Kadima edged out Likud in the election, capturing 28 seats to Likud's 27. But Likud is in a better position to make a coalition because of gains by Lieberman and other hard-line parties.
26 jan 2009
Opinion polls published on Monday projected that Avigdor Lieberman, who immigrated to Israel from Moldova in 1978, is poised to win 16 seats for his Yisrael Beitanu (literally 'our Israel') party in next month's general election
A former nightclub bouncer viewed as an anti-Arab extremist is the main political beneficiary of the Gaza war and could hold the balance of power in a new parliament after elections.
When the Israeli public roared approval for the assault on Gaza, it was expected that the direct political beneficiaries would be the leaders of the ruling centrist Kadima Party.
But opinion polls published on Monday indicated that the Right-wing Avigdor Lieberman, who emigrated to Israel from Moldova in 1978, is poised to win 16 seats for his Yisrael Beitanu (literally “our Israel”) party in the general election on Feb 10.
The result, when combined with the 28 seats forecast for the Right-wing Likud Party headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister who is nicknamed "Bibi", would put a Right-wing coalition ahead of the current centrist government.
Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, would be relegated to opposition.
"Whereas until today the polls were predicting a Bibi government, from now on we must say: a Bibi-Lieberman government," said the daily newspaper Ma'ariv.
The prospects for US President Barack Obama, and his new Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell, are worrying.Not only does Mr Netanyahu dismiss the peace efforts of the international community, but he might depend on a man viewed as an extremist for his parliamentary majority.
Mr Lieberman, 50, has a long history of verbal attacks on Arabs - not just Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, but his fellow citizens in Israel. In 2003, he was reported to have suggested that Palestinian prisoners being released from Israeli jails should be bussed to the Dead Sea and drowned.
In the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, three years later, he called for the execution of any parliamentarians who met members of the then Hamas-led Palestinian government.
"World War II ended with the Nuremberg trials," he said. "The heads of the Nazi regime, along with their collaborators, were executed. I hope this will be the fate of the collaborators in the Knesset."
The comment was widely regarded as an implicit attack on Arab members of the Knesset, leading some Jewish members to denounce him for "racism".
Mr Lieberman has always counted on the support of the one million or so Russian-speakers who immigrated to Israel in large numbers after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But Mr Lieberman’s forthright manner – seen by supporters as “straight talking” – has started to attract a growing number of other Israelis, many of them born in the US, who see him as the champion of Israeli nationalism.
Two star recruits to his party Yisrael Beitanu are Danny Alayon, a former Israeli ambassador to America and Uzi Landau, who like Mr Lieberman was once a lieutenant of Mr Netanyahu.
Alone among leading Israeli politicians, Mr Lieberman is a settler - one of nearly 500,000 Israelis who live on land seized from Palestinians in the Occupied Territories in contravention of international law.
From this precarious position he argues that Israel must grow more ethnically "homogeneous".
That goal should be achieved through two means, he said: Israeli borders should be redrawn to cut out a few large Arab towns, whose inhabitants would then be stripped of Israeli citizenship but would become citizens of a new Palestinian state. In return, Israel would absorb all the land now held by settlers.
He also demands that every citizen must pledge an oath of allegiance, or be stripped of their citizenship.
At a political rally in Jerusalem last week, the audience cheered when speakers referred to Israel’s 1.2 million Arab citizens as “a fifth column”.
“Whether you like this guy or not, at least you know what he’s saying,” said Moshe Mendowitz, who moved to Israel from Brooklyn. “He represents strength and we know he’ll fight for us.”
Analysts believe that the Gaza conflict, which followed a six-month ceasefire with Hamas, reinforced the Right-wing Israeli belief in the futility of making concessions to Palestinians.
"The effect of the war on the general election will be to restrict the future government's room for manoeuvre," said Roni Bart of the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank. "People are saying every time we give up land for peace, it doesn't lead to better times but the opposite."
That sentiment is echoed by Mr Lieberman's new supporters. "I'm not against Arabs, I too want to live in peace," said Felix, a busker on the streets of Tel Aviv. "But the truth is that we cannot give away our land - we have such a small country and what is there of it to give away?"
A former nightclub bouncer viewed as an anti-Arab extremist is the main political beneficiary of the Gaza war and could hold the balance of power in a new parliament after elections.
When the Israeli public roared approval for the assault on Gaza, it was expected that the direct political beneficiaries would be the leaders of the ruling centrist Kadima Party.
But opinion polls published on Monday indicated that the Right-wing Avigdor Lieberman, who emigrated to Israel from Moldova in 1978, is poised to win 16 seats for his Yisrael Beitanu (literally “our Israel”) party in the general election on Feb 10.
The result, when combined with the 28 seats forecast for the Right-wing Likud Party headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister who is nicknamed "Bibi", would put a Right-wing coalition ahead of the current centrist government.
Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, would be relegated to opposition.
"Whereas until today the polls were predicting a Bibi government, from now on we must say: a Bibi-Lieberman government," said the daily newspaper Ma'ariv.
The prospects for US President Barack Obama, and his new Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell, are worrying.Not only does Mr Netanyahu dismiss the peace efforts of the international community, but he might depend on a man viewed as an extremist for his parliamentary majority.
Mr Lieberman, 50, has a long history of verbal attacks on Arabs - not just Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, but his fellow citizens in Israel. In 2003, he was reported to have suggested that Palestinian prisoners being released from Israeli jails should be bussed to the Dead Sea and drowned.
In the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, three years later, he called for the execution of any parliamentarians who met members of the then Hamas-led Palestinian government.
"World War II ended with the Nuremberg trials," he said. "The heads of the Nazi regime, along with their collaborators, were executed. I hope this will be the fate of the collaborators in the Knesset."
The comment was widely regarded as an implicit attack on Arab members of the Knesset, leading some Jewish members to denounce him for "racism".
Mr Lieberman has always counted on the support of the one million or so Russian-speakers who immigrated to Israel in large numbers after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But Mr Lieberman’s forthright manner – seen by supporters as “straight talking” – has started to attract a growing number of other Israelis, many of them born in the US, who see him as the champion of Israeli nationalism.
Two star recruits to his party Yisrael Beitanu are Danny Alayon, a former Israeli ambassador to America and Uzi Landau, who like Mr Lieberman was once a lieutenant of Mr Netanyahu.
Alone among leading Israeli politicians, Mr Lieberman is a settler - one of nearly 500,000 Israelis who live on land seized from Palestinians in the Occupied Territories in contravention of international law.
From this precarious position he argues that Israel must grow more ethnically "homogeneous".
That goal should be achieved through two means, he said: Israeli borders should be redrawn to cut out a few large Arab towns, whose inhabitants would then be stripped of Israeli citizenship but would become citizens of a new Palestinian state. In return, Israel would absorb all the land now held by settlers.
He also demands that every citizen must pledge an oath of allegiance, or be stripped of their citizenship.
At a political rally in Jerusalem last week, the audience cheered when speakers referred to Israel’s 1.2 million Arab citizens as “a fifth column”.
“Whether you like this guy or not, at least you know what he’s saying,” said Moshe Mendowitz, who moved to Israel from Brooklyn. “He represents strength and we know he’ll fight for us.”
Analysts believe that the Gaza conflict, which followed a six-month ceasefire with Hamas, reinforced the Right-wing Israeli belief in the futility of making concessions to Palestinians.
"The effect of the war on the general election will be to restrict the future government's room for manoeuvre," said Roni Bart of the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank. "People are saying every time we give up land for peace, it doesn't lead to better times but the opposite."
That sentiment is echoed by Mr Lieberman's new supporters. "I'm not against Arabs, I too want to live in peace," said Felix, a busker on the streets of Tel Aviv. "But the truth is that we cannot give away our land - we have such a small country and what is there of it to give away?"
