GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinians received the news of Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government with frustration and despair. This came amid mounting expectations of a military escalation in the Gaza Strip. On May 25, Liberman was appointed to serve as Israeli defense minister and be the one responsible for implementing Israeli policies in the occupied territories.

Liberman, who was a nightclub bouncer after he immigrated to Israel in 1978 from Moldova, is seen as a prominent Israeli figure with extremist and radical stances toward the Palestinians.

Liberman set as a precondition for joining the Netanyahu government that Israel impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of “terrorism.” He had also promised Israelis in February 2015 that he would implement such a law if he won in the March 2015 elections. His party won only six seats in the Knesset.

Wassel Abu Youssef, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, told Al-Monitor that Liberman joining the Israeli government “warns that Israeli violence against Palestinians will escalate and that the ongoing Palestinian bloodshed will be fueling the survival of the extremist government.”