It would be hard to find more fickle, erratic and unpredictable politics than Israel’s. But even by its own standards, Israeli politics, as reflected in the former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman case, breaks new records of bizarreness befitting a tawdry Latin American telenovela. Yet this affair, however preposterous, carries many implications that could affect the Middle East in general and Israel in particular. And this is where it stops being funny.

Former and possibly future Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman appeared Wednesday [May 29] before three judges in the Jerusalem Magistrate Court and took the witness stand. Testifying for seven hours, he did not lose his composure, making jokes and sporting good humor. He did what he does so well. His testimony will continue at the court’s next session after which the “defense will rest.” Then, the judges will retire to their chambers and later this summer seal Lieberman’s fate and possibly that of his party, Yisrael Beitenu. They may even seal the fate of the succession battle in the post-[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu Likud party, and possibly the diplomatic process and the ever-so-high chances of conflagration in the Middle East. There’s Lieberman for you. He has his finger in every pie.

Let’s start at the beginning. For some 20 years, Israeli law enforcement agencies and the state prosecution have had Lieberman in their crosshairs. The new immigrant’s heavy accent, manicured beard and terrifying looks did not go well with the police and the State Attorney’s Office. Investigations were launched and closed; cases cropped up and faded away. In the end, the police, and subsequently the state attorney, zeroed in on an international mega-million shekel kickback affair that spawned many tentacles until it became a sizzling hot potato that was placed on the desk of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein. This is where our story takes a dramatic and bizarre turn. Vacillating, consulting, deliberating, regretting, coming back to his senses and taking endless time, Weinstein finally made a call and closed the case, and that was that.

Instead, he submitted an indictment against Lieberman on some small, minuscule even, affair, which is entirely surreal and could be regarded as a tragic comedy of errors, redolent (or not) of B-class crooks. This is the story about the Israeli ambassador to Belarus, Zeev Ben-Aryeh, who also hails from the former Soviet Union and is closely associated with Lieberman. The two meet in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Lieberman is not the foreign minister at this time, only the chairman of the party. Ben-Aryeh hands him an envelope with details about a request from the Israeli State Attorney’s Office to Belarus law enforcement agencies regarding the investigation into the Lieberman case. From this point on, the versions diverge. Lieberman relates that he sneaked a quick look at the note, and realizing what it was, he tore it to pieces, threw it down the toilet and flushed. He totally ignored the incident, and a few years later, as foreign minister, he helped to promote Ben-Aryeh to another position as a Foreign Ministry ambassador. The state attorney, on the other hand, thinks there’s much more to it than meets the eye. This is an ambassador who gives Lieberman confidential information from a pending investigation with the hope of getting something in return, which is what happens a few years later, when he is appointed to another position.