Expansion plan for Palestinian town a power test for Liberman

The conflict between Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and the settlers over his plan to expand the Palestinian city of Qalqilya is about to reach a boiling point. While Liberman insists that his plan is essential for purely security reasons, the settlers are waging an aggressive campaign to block it, claiming that it is actually dangerous.

Next week, the Cabinet is expected to determine the fate of the plan, which was put on hold at the order of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in response to vociferous opposition by HaBayit HaYehudi ministers. They, in turn, are being subjected to every imaginable pressure from the settlers. Ever since Channel 2 News first revealed the plan last June, the settlers, led by Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council and their representative in the Likud Party, have successfully applied pressure also on Likud ministers who are security Cabinet members. This only exacerbates the potential political volatility of the entire issue.

In many ways, this decisive moment is a test of Liberman's strength in dealing with what he derisively calls the "messianic" right, whose most senior representative in the government is HaBayit HaYehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett. In contrast, Liberman sees himself as representing the pragmatic, responsible right.

The conflict itself is fascinating, because it defines the division within the right-wing camp. It cuts off Liberman — who is himself a settler — from the far right, while bringing him closer to new groups of potential supporters. This will apparently have an impact on electoral movements within the right-wing camp before the next election.