Palestinians did not need the appointment on May 25 of Avigdor Liberman, head of Yisrael Beitenu, as defense minister to be convinced that the government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu since May 15, 2015, is the most right-wing and extreme in the history of Israel. Under this government, which brought together different religious and nationalist parties, the peace negotiations stopped, settlements expanded and the Jerusalem intifada erupted in October 2015.

Liberman’s appointment sparked several Palestinian reactions. While Hamas deemed his appointment as a sign of increasing racism and extremism in Israel, Fatah said the appointment is like a bugaboo scaring Palestinians given the empty threats he makes in the media. For its part, Islamic Jihad stressed that Liberman's appointment is proof of the rising fascism among Israeli leaders.

Youssef Rizqa, the former information minister in the Hamas government, told Al-Monitor, “The inclusion of Liberman in the Israeli government is a success for Netanyahu as it would rescue his government from collapsing amid no significant differences between the two men — since both share similar right-wing positions toward the Palestinians and refuse to make concessions. However, Liberman is calling for the expulsion of the Arabs from the land of Palestine while announcing the death of the two-state solution and the end of negotiations with the Palestinians. Although he is annoying and controversial, we do not fear him. He is being used to threaten us. He may not declare direct war on Gaza, but he may resort to assassinations of Palestinians and activate the Israeli military action against the tunnels, which would provoke a reaction on the part of the resistance. Things may spiral out of control and a war may indeed break out, which may be according to him a prelude to his radical approach to Hamas’ future takeover of Gaza.”

What may be a cause for concern among Palestinians as far as Liberman is concerned is that he accused Netanyahu of failing to confront Hamas, which is threatening Israelis in the Gaza envelope. On April 16, Liberman claimed that Hamas plans to occupy the southern Israeli settlements in the next war, knowing that Israel discovered a Hamas tunnel inside its territory April 18. This could lead Liberman to carry out the threats he made March 9 concerning the assassination of Palestinian leaders in a military confrontation.