Is Netanyahu-Liberman power couple making comeback?
Of all the ministers, it was actually Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long-year foe, who defended the prime minister on the submarine affair and who stated clearly that the Amona settlement will be evacuated.
The Israeli prime minister's office functioned like a war room on Nov. 17, as it attempted to stop the steady release of new information about the "submarine affair." The scandal, which broke two days earlier, revolves around the purchase of submarines from Germany. As Channel 10 journalist Raviv Drucker discovered, the lawyer representing the German shipbuilding firm in the deal also happens to be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's personal attorney David Shimron. Coverage of the scandal intensified when it was revealed that former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon opposed the purchase of the submarines last February.
Then an ally popped up for Netanyahu from an unlikely direction. While Netanyahu's team did everything they could to find spokespersons to hold back the media tsunami, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman volunteered to defend the prime minister's decision to go through with the deal. As guest of honor at a conference in Ashdod, Liberman was asked where he stood on the issue. He answered, "I supported the submarine purchase in every position I held, whether I was foreign minister or a member of the opposition. Specifically, and I am speaking solely from the perspective of the country's defense requirements, it is the right decision. I supported it then and continue to support it now. All the rest is gossip."
As Liberman sees it, the involvement of Netanyahu's lawyer and confidant in the billion-dollar deal is just scandalmongering, plain and simple. "I heard Netanyahu say that he had no idea that his lawyer also represented the German company," Liberman added. "Lawyers have hundreds of clients. The prime minister has no way of knowing who all of his lawyer's clients are."
With the submarine affair attracting more and more criticism, Likud's ministers seem to have gone mute. They disappeared from TV studios and politely declined the opportunity to defend Netanyahu to the press. And so, the one person who did agree to help Netanyahu was someone who, until just a few months ago, never missed an opportunity to humiliate Netanyahu and challenge his discretion as prime minister. Yes, he could have made do with more laconic, general expressions of support for Netanyahu, but Liberman decided to be generous instead.
