Who is Lieberman in Israel? Israeli Defense Minister Aguidor Lieberman

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, leader of the "Our Home is Israel" party

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel (since March 2009), leader of the Our Home is Israel party, former member of the Knesset (15th, 16th and 17th convocations). Since 1988, assistant and ally of Benjamin Netanyahu. In 2006-2008, he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Threats in the government of Ehud Olmert; In the government of Ariel Sharon, he served as Minister of Transport (2003-2004) and Minister of National Infrastructures (2001-2003). In 1999 he created the party “Our Home is Israel”.

Avigdor Lvovich Liberman was born on July 5, 1958 in Chisinau, Moldavian SSR. His parents Lev and Esther Lieberman lived in a private house in Chisinau and were engaged in trade. According to Lieberman, he was raised in the spirit of Zionism, the house was full of books in Yiddish and Hebrew. His family never lost touch with its Jewish roots: in 1934, Avigdor’s uncle Joseph Lieberman, who was a convinced Zionist, left for Israel, and in 1956, Lieberman’s grandfather, having obtained permission to leave the USSR. In his youth, Lieberman's father was an activist in Beitar, studied Hebrew and was planning to repatriate to Israel, but did not have time - in June 1940, Romania ceded the territories of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the USSR. In 1949, Lev Lieberman, as a front-line soldier who survived a fascist concentration camp, was sent for seven years as a “special settler” to Siberia.

In 1965, Avigdor Lieberman went to study at Chisinau secondary school No. 41. His parents nicknamed him Evik in honor of his grandmother Eva, and in school documents he was recorded as Evit Lvovich Liberman. He studied well, but often ran away from political classes to the cinema and football. In the seventh grade, Lieberman organized the first strike in the entire history of the school - he took two classes from classes, who almost walked on foot to the head of the city department of public education. Schoolchildren protested against constant nagging from teachers, who forbade, for example, wearing jeans and long hair. Lieberman successfully completed school: in the 10th grade he had only three B's - in Russian language, literature and chemistry.

In 1975, Lieberman entered the Chisinau Agricultural Institute at the Faculty of Hydraulic Engineering and Land Reclamation. At first he wanted to study at the Faculty of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, but his documents were not even accepted because of his nationality. In his third year, Lieberman wrote the play “Students,” which won a prize at the “Soviet Moldova” competition for young playwrights, but was never staged. At the Chisinau Institute he managed to complete only three courses.

In 1978, Lieberman's family immigrated to Israel. Immediately upon his arrival in the country, one of his relatives helped Avigdor get a job as a loader at Ben-Gurion Airport. At preparatory courses at Beersheba University, Lieberman met his future wife Ella, who had repatriated from the USSR in early 1979. They later entered the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Then they started working together at the popular student disco "Baraton": Lieberman was a security guard, Ella was a cook in a cafe, and after dancing they washed the floors in the hall. In 1981, Avigdor and Ella got married. In 1983, the Lieberman couple had a daughter, Michal, five years later, a son, Kobi (Jacob), and two years later, a son, Amos.

At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Lieberman studied at the Faculty of International Relations. According to some reports, he was attracted to politics by his classmate and future Minister of Health Tzahi Hanegbi. Lieberman joined the student club "Castel", associated with the Likud party. He, like many of his classmates, participated in the famous clashes between right-wing Jewish students and Arab students: in order to stop the brawls on the campus in Givat Ram, mounted police had to be brought into the university territory. After completing a university course and receiving a bachelor's degree in economics and international relations, Lieberman was drafted into the army.

After finishing his military service, Lieberman and his wife settled in a new district of Jerusalem - Gilo, where he began to engage in both business and politics. At one time he ran a small commercial firm and was secretary of the Jerusalem branch of the National Trade Union. In 1983 or 1984, Lieberman was appointed secretary of the Likud faction in the Jerusalem municipality. He was appointed general director of the Leumit health insurance fund (according to other sources - Meuhedet), associated with Likud. In this position, he managed to convince hundreds of repatriates to join the health insurance fund, renovated the building and added an entire floor. In 1986, Lieberman joined the board of directors of the Jerusalem Economic Company, which was involved in the development and implementation of capital development projects. In 1987, on his initiative, an association of immigrants from the USSR, the Gesher Aliya movement, was created under the Likud, and Lieberman himself became the general director of the association. In addition, for several years he published the monthly magazine "Jerusalem Diary", which contained many incisive publications, and half of all articles were written by Lieberman himself. In Jerusalem, at a Likud event, Lieberman met the Israeli representative to the UN, Benjamin Netanyahu, who came home on vacation.

At the beginning of 1988, Lieberman moved with his wife and daughter to the settlement of Nokdim, founded in 1982 in the center of the Judean Desert. The official name translated means "Nomads" and is taken from a tanakhic passage that refers to "the prophet Amos, who was from the nomads near Tekoa." The second unofficial name - El-David - this settlement was named in honor of Eli Presman, who died in Lebanon, and David Rosenfeld, from the neighboring settlement of Teoka, who was stabbed to death by the Arabs. Both religious and secular families lived in Nokdim. For five years, the Lieberman family lived in a small caravan - four meters wide and eleven meters long. At one time, the settlement was on the verge of collapse: during the first intifada, only nine families remained in it, and during the Gulf War, the settlers created a special armed convoy to buy food in Jerusalem.

In 1988, Lieberman joined the presidium of the Zionist Forum of Jews from the USSR, created on the basis of the Israeli Information Center by a group of famous dissidents and “prisoners of Zion.” The purpose of the forum was to support veterans of the Zionist movement in the USSR in Israel and implement projects for the absorption of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union. According to experts, this organization became a counterweight to the official Israeli Ministry of Absorption, which was actively criticized at that time.

That same year, Lieberman joined the campaign headquarters and became an assistant to Netanyahu, who completed his work at the UN and took part in Likud’s internal elections. In 1993, Lieberman headed the campaign headquarters of Netanyahu, who won the Likud primaries, became party chairman and appointed his assistant as the party's general director. Likud was on the verge of collapse at the time: the party was 46 million shekels in debt, regional branches were practically non-functional, and Netanyahu was losing heavily to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in opinion polls. Lieberman fired several dozen Likud functionaries, paid off his debts within a year and rebuilt the party infrastructure. In the second half of 1995, Netanyahu was leading in the polls, but after the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin, the press launched a campaign to discredit the Likud leader. According to some reports, Netanyahu was supported by 27 percent of the population, and his main rival Shimon Peres - 54 percent, but Lieberman managed to close the gap. In May 1996, Netanyahu won the first direct election as Prime Minister of Israel.

In June 1996, Lieberman was appointed to the post of director general (mancal) of the Ministry of the Head of Government (this position in Israel is informally called “country director”, since the holder controls all major government projects. Lieberman began the privatization of state-owned enterprises. To solve the housing problem, he spoke with the initiative for land reform, during which it was planned to expand the artificially created municipal boundaries of cities for the development and construction of housing on the released lands.Lieberman became one of the authors of the concept of a new foreign policy for Israel in relations with Russia, the CIS countries and Eastern Europe, which was based on laid the idea of ​​a strategic partnership. At the same time, the Israeli media began a massive attack on Lieberman: his “Russian” origin was emphasized, information appeared that it was he, and not Netanyahu, who led the formation of the government. In addition, Lieberman’s activities in the government were accompanied by numerous scandals and police investigations, none of which resulted in the case being brought to court. At the end of 1997, he resigned from his post as director general of the Ministry of the Head of the Israeli Government. According to Lieberman, he left because public service did not allow him to actively engage in party affairs.

In January 1999, Lieberman announced the creation of his own party, “Our Home is Israel” (NDI, Yisrael Beitenu). According to some reports, after the success of independent community repatriation lists in the elections to city and district councils in 1998, Lieberman decided to copy this successful model at the national level. Even the name of the new party was similar to the name of one of the leading immigrant lists - “Our Home is Ashdod” by Shimon Katsenelson. The personnel core and strategy of the new party were laid at the end of 1998 during a meeting between Lieberman in Katsenelson’s house with a number of leaders of “Russian” parties and movements. The basis of the NDI were former activists of the “Russian Likud”, disappointed with the policy of concessions to the Palestinians by the government led by Netanyahu and the lack of attention of the party leadership to the interests of its “Russian” members.

On January 3, 1999, Lieberman began his election campaign with an unprecedented attack on Israeli officials, whom he called oligarchs, allegedly because of whom the unprivileged sections of Israel were alienated from power and property. This step made the party attractive to many “non-Russian” Israelis. NDI put forward a detailed program for the democratic renewal of the country: the adoption of a constitution, the establishment of a Constitutional Court, the establishment of a presidential form of government, and a real separation of branches of power. In addition to political reforms, programs for economic reforms, ensuring the country's security, and fighting terrorism were developed. Lieberman's political position was based on the following basic principles: Jerusalem will forever remain the single and indivisible capital of Israel, the Golan Heights are the sovereign territory of Israel, and political negotiations with terrorists are unacceptable.

In May 1999, in the parliamentary elections, the NDI party received 82 thousand votes and 4 mandates, and Lieberman became a member of the 15th Knesset. After the elections, he called on all parties of the right-wing national camp to unite, but only the leader of the National Unity faction, Rehavam Zeevi (Gandhi), responded. In October 1999, the NDI - National Unity bloc of seven deputies was formed. The new faction became the core of the right-wing opposition in parliament. In fact, Lieberman became the leader of this bloc, especially after the death of the chairman of the Moledet party, Zeevi, at the hands of militants from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. After the elections, NDI made great efforts to develop a system of party-related organizations: in the fall of 1999, the creation of the Women's Forum and the party's youth movement was proclaimed, and in December of the same year - its own settlement movement. In addition, the party actively collaborated with repatriate informal associations and groups, sponsored their professional activities and leisure activities.

In February 2001, during the early elections of the head of government, Lieberman's party showed itself to be the most organized and influential force on the “Russian street.” She is believed to have played a decisive role in the victory of right-wing national candidate Ariel Sharon. Numerous polls among the Russian-speaking population have shown that the overwhelming majority of citizens made their choice in favor of Sharon under the influence of Lieberman. In March 2001, NDI signed coalition agreements with the newly elected head of government, Lieberman became Minister of National Infrastructures. His ministry was in charge of land, electricity, water, energy resources (gas, oil), television and radio communications, geological exploration and much more. On his initiative, the construction of desalination plants began, an effective educational campaign to save water was carried out, and the implementation of major projects of national importance began, including the construction of a new power plant in Ashkelon, the laying of a gas pipeline from fields in the coastal shelf of Israel and many others. Lieberman came up with a program for the cantonization of the Palestinian Authority. He stated that it is necessary to create four independent territorially isolated Palestinian cantons, and not try to artificially create corridors: separate Gaza, separate Judea, separate Samaria, separate Jericho. His proposal was not accepted, and in the spring of 2002 Lieberman resigned due to disagreement with the policies of the Sharon government.

In 2002, Lieberman became the leader of the right-wing National Unity bloc he created, the core of which was the NDI party. In the parliamentary elections in 2003, his bloc received 7 mandates and entered Sharon’s new government. So Lieberman was first elected to the 16th Knesset, and then became Minister of Transport. Within a few months of working in the ministry, he achieved the development and final approval by the government and the Knesset of a five-year plan for the development of railway transport, and began the privatization of the state airline El Al (for the first time in the history of Israel, the state sold shares of its company on the stock exchange). On his initiative, a comprehensive plan of measures to reduce accidents was developed, and for the first time in several years, fewer Israelis were killed or injured on the country's roads in 2003 than in the previous year. Every month, new road junctions and sections of highways were opened in Israel, which had been in a state of hopeless long-term construction for many years. In 2003, a jury of six hundred of the country's largest entrepreneurs awarded Lieberman an annual prize for his outstanding contribution to the development of the country's economy. In June 2004, Prime Minister Sharon fired Lieberman from the government because Sharon needed to secure a majority vote on a unilateral disengagement plan from Gaza. After this, the National Unity bloc left the government coalition.

In September 2004, Lieberman and his NDI party left the National Unity bloc and announced their intention to run for the 17th Knesset as an independent list. Lieberman began to position his party as an organization representing the interests of repatriates. He stated that it was necessary to create highly qualified jobs for them, to give new repatriates the opportunity to work and receive a normal salary for their work, and not to exist on benefits. Lieberman called the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and Northern Samaria a strategic mistake by the Israeli leadership, which ultimately led to the growing popularity and victory in the parliamentary elections of the Palestinian Authority of the terrorist movement Hamas. Immediately before the elections, experts believed that the NDI party would be able to get six to seven seats in parliament.

In March 2006, Lieberman's party entered the 17th Knesset: it received 12 seats and took fourth place, even ahead of Likud. The result of the NDI became a sensation; some experts even said that in the future Lieberman would be able to aspire to the post of head of the Israeli government. Lieberman expected to take the post of Minister of Homeland Security, but he was not satisfied with the clause regarding future disengagement with the Palestinians, and NDI did not join the government coalition. So Lieberman's party again became the opposition.

On October 30, 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert managed to agree with Lieberman to unite the ruling coalition with the NDI faction. After this, the number of coalition participants increased to 78 votes, which allowed Olmert to gain a decisive advantage in the Knesset. Observers noted that the entry of far-right members of the NDI into the government coalition could significantly slow down the peace process in the Middle East. Lieberman himself received the post of Deputy Prime Minister in the government.

Immediately after taking office, Lieberman made several provocative statements regarding the Palestinian issue. In particular, he stated that Israel should act in Gaza in the same way as Russia acted in Chechnya, and then advocated a complete separation of Jews and Palestinians. In addition, in November 2006, Lieberman called on Israel to destroy Hamas leaders and stop negotiations with the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.

In early December 2006, Israel created a new Ministry for Strategic Threats under the leadership of Lieberman; Monitoring the issue of the Iranian threat to Israel was announced as one of the main activities of the ministry. In February 2007, Lieberman, who had been accused by the press of racism, found himself at the center of a scandal when he became the only minister to vote against the installation of the first Arab minister in Israeli history, Ghaleb Majadleh.

At the end of February 2007, Lieberman visited Moscow, reportedly to discuss Russian arms supplies to Israel's opponents Iran and Syria. The media noted that at the same time, the head of the Hamas Politburo, Khaled Mashaal, also visited Moscow, so that Russia could be used as a mediator for negotiations between Israel and Palestinian Islamists. Negotiations between Israel and Russia on the Iran issue continued in April during a visit to Israel by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and his meetings with Olmert, Lieberman and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

In the wake of the fight against corruption in the Israeli government in April 2007, Lieberman was questioned in connection with the discovery of a large transfer from Cyprus to a company owned by his daughter in 2004.

On June 1, 2007, the press reported that Lieberman proposed his own plan to solve the problem of Hamas shelling of Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. This plan provided for a complete blockade of Gaza, depriving it of electricity and water, and bombing the strip after each shelling of Israeli populated areas.

In August 2007, the head of the right-wing Likud, Netanyahu, invited Lieberman to enter into an alliance between their parties and participate together in the next Knesset elections, but Lieberman refused. In the fall, representatives of left-wing parties again accused Lieberman of fascism and demanded his resignation; in response, the politician called left-wing parties guilty of all the troubles of Israel and compared them with prisoners who worked for the Nazis in German concentration camps.

In September 2007, Lieberman announced ongoing negotiations on a visa waiver between Israel and Russia. The visa regime was finally abolished a year later, in September 2008.

A month before the peace conference held by Israel and the official leadership of the Palestinian Authority in Annapolis in November 2007, Lieberman said that the NDI would not respond to peace negotiations by leaving the ruling coalition, but only on the condition that Olmert would not make concessions to the Palestinians. delegation. After the conference, Lieberman remained in the government, but as soon as Olmert resumed peace negotiations in January 2008 and made possible concessions, Lieberman announced that NDI was leaving the coalition, and he himself was leaving the post of minister. Three months after Lieberman left, in April 2008, a decision was made to liquidate the entire ministry he headed.

Finding himself in opposition, Lieberman began to make radical statements. In February 2008, he called for the Knesset to be freed from Arab factions. In March, the leader of the NDI also proposed fining Israeli citizens who did not serve in the army. Lieberman's radical anti-Arab speeches led the extremist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to announce its intention to assassinate the PND leader in October. After Israeli President Shimon Peres held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Egyptian soil at the end of October, Lieberman said in the Knesset that if Mubarak does not want to come to Israel, he “can go to hell.” After this, the Israeli administration was forced to officially apologize to the Egyptian one, and in Egypt a case was opened against Lieberman for insulting the president.

In September - October 2008, Tzipi Livni tried to form a new government, but after she failed to create a new coalition, on October 26 she announced that early parliamentary elections would be held in Israel. NDI decided to participate in the new campaign on its own: even earlier, in April 2008, Likud proposed an alliance to the party, but NDI representatives stated that they would not join the coalition as long as Likud was led by Netanyahu. In the list of NDI candidates, Lieberman, as the party leader, took first place, and second place was given to former Likud Knesset member Uzi Landau. The period of the election campaign included the major military operation “Cast Lead” carried out in Gaza in December 2008 - January 2009 against the Hamas movement, which corresponded to Lieberman’s plan and was approved by him. Thanks to the fact that the NDI leader had expressed ideas for such an operation before, Cast Lead sharply increased the popularity of his party in the run-up to the Knesset elections. At the same time, on the eve of the elections, corruption cases previously brought against Lieberman began to be discussed again, although representatives of the Israeli Prosecutor General's Office emphasized that these cases are not political.

On February 10, 2009, elections to the Knesset were held, in which NDI took third place, receiving 15 seats (out of 120). An alliance with Lieberman became necessary for any major party to form a majority in the Knesset, and therefore he began consultations with the leaders of the victorious Likud and Kadima parties, Netanyahu and Livni. On February 18 of the same year, Lieberman spoke in favor of a coalition government led by Netanyahu, which, in his opinion, should include representatives of Kadima, but Livni rejected this possibility. On March 15, 2009, Netanyahu and Lieberman signed an agreement, according to which NDI was part of the government and its leader received the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. On March 31, 2009, Netanyahu's government was approved by the Knesset.

According to Lieberman, he twice tried to leave politics, but his wife and parents did not allow him to do so.

Avigdor Lieberman, resigned from his post as Director General of the Ministry of the Head of the Israeli Government on November 23, 1997. On the same day, she was received by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The official statement praised Lieberman's performance in this post. The Prime Minister himself said:

I regret the resignation of a trusted friend who worked with me for many years. However, I cannot interfere with his decision...

The next day, Lieberman held a press conference at the Beit Sokolov House of Journalists in Tel Aviv, located on Kaplan Street. Long before the start, Israeli “paparazzi” crowded at the entrance to the building, pushing each other away, hoping to catch a unique shot: Lieberman - depressed, confused, unhappy...

And then, at exactly one o’clock in the afternoon, a completely different Lieberman appeared before the sensation seekers. Calm, smiling, confident. He looked exactly as the director general of the ministry of the head of government should look: in a fashionable double-breasted suit and an equally fashionable dark blue tie with small polka dots. But he spoke somewhat differently: relaxed, freely, for the first time in the last year and a half, having gotten rid of that “internal censor” without which one cannot do in the public service. It seems that Lieberman was glad that resigning from a responsible post returned to him the freedom that had been lost for 17 months. And now, in a new capacity for himself, he can finally say everything he thinks.

Regarding his resignation, he said that public service did not allow him to actively engage in party affairs. In this connection, he decided to leave his post, having agreed in advance with the Prime Minister. Regarding the future, he said that the main thing is to solve problems that are vital for Israel.

When they ask me,” Lieberman emphasized, “am I ready for Israel to make new concessions and territorial compromises, I answer clearly and clearly: I am not ready to give up a single centimeter for a handshake with Arafat or for dinner in the White House with President Clinton.

Naturally, journalists had a question: what does Mr. Lieberman intend to do in the future?

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“I haven’t received any offers so far,” he replied. - But I have an excellent profession that is in demand. I am a loader and a security guard. I think that in Israel there are many objects in my specializations.

REPATRIANT FROM THE USSR

There is an opinion in Israeli society that “Russians” (i.e., repatriates from the USSR and Russia) are not capable of making a political career. They say that they are hampered by the language barrier, but the main thing is the mentality of a student of the Soviet system. Avigdor Lieberman, a repatriate from the USSR, refuted these stereotypes.

Avigdor, whom his friends call Evik, was born 40 years ago in Chisinau. His family, he once said, “never lost touch with their Jewish roots, the house was full of books in Yiddish and Hebrew.” Lieberman Sr., in his youth, joined the revisionist movement, and Lieberman Jr. was captivated by the ideas of Jabotinsky, which the Likud bloc of right-wing parties later adopted.

Avigdor inherited a love of literature from his father, who, by the way, still writes stories and publishes them in Russian-language magazines. The son has a weakness for poetry, writes poems in Russian, but no one has yet managed to convince him to publish them.

In 1978, the Lieberman family immigrated to Israel. Avigdor settled in Jerusalem and entered the Hebrew University, where he studied political science. In his group was the former Minister of Health Tzachi Hanegbi, who introduced the new repatriate to politics. Lieberman joined the Likud-affiliated student club Kastel and began to actively participate in the political debates that took place at the university.

According to his classmates, he was not afraid of heated discussions. His position has always been tough. They say that once on the Day of Remembrance of the Fallen Soldiers of Israel, a group of Arab students demonstratively turned on a tape recorder with cheerful music at full power. Lieberman could not bear such outrage; he entered the Arabs’ room and asked them to turn down the volume. He was answered with a categorical refusal. It ended in a fight. As a result, three Arabs ended up in hospital.

Soon Anegbi found a “hack job” for his friend, who needed additional income, to guard the student club building. Later, during the formation of the government, sharp-tongued journalists argued that Lieberman, having become director general of the ministry of the head of the cabinet, repaid the debt in full: he found Anegbi a job in the Ministry of Health. This, of course, is nothing more than a joke. Hanegbi is one of Netanyahu's closest allies.

While working at the club, Avigdor met his future wife Ella, a young student, also a repatriate from the USSR, who washed dishes in the club cafeteria in the evenings. Today the Lieberman couple have three children: daughter Michal, sons Yakov and Amos.

After receiving his bachelor's degree, Avigdor was drafted into the army. Until today, he annually undergoes military training. By the way, when he held the position of general director, Israeli journalists joked: one must assume that soon the command of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will try to get rid of such a reservist. Otherwise, if he wants to continue to fulfill his duty as a soldier, the army will have to assign a special counterintelligence unit to Lieberman’s unit, which will protect a person privy to the most intimate state secrets.

After finishing his military service, Avigdor and his wife settled in a new district of Jerusalem - Gilo. But Zionist beliefs required more direct participation in the development of Eretz Israel (the “Land of Israel” within the biblical boundaries). Soon the young family moved to the tiny settlement of El David, which was home to both religious and secular families.

Lieberman is not religious. But the Jewish tradition is not alien to him. Looking ahead, I will say that on the night of the vote count, when the advantage was in favor of another contender for the post of prime minister, Shimon Peres, he went to the synagogue and asked the Almighty to grant Netanyahu victory. He had barely finished his prayer when the phone rang: the Likud leader was taking the lead.

GOING INTO POLITICS

At one time, Lieberman ran a small commercial firm. Then he received his first political appointment: he was responsible for registering new repatriates at the Meuhedet health insurance fund, associated with Likud. When he arrived at the Jerusalem branch of the health insurance fund, it looked pitiful: a small house that had long been in need of repair. It was here that Avigdor first demonstrated his organizational skills. It was he who convinced hundreds of repatriates to join the health insurance fund and not only renovated the building, but also added an entire floor.

In Jerusalem, he also met Netanyahu, who, while then serving as the Israeli representative to the UN, came on vacation. During one Likud event, he “collided” with Lieberman. “Sabra” (that is, born in Israel) Netanyahu and the repatriate from the USSR, who never got rid of his heavy Russian accent, immediately found a common language. When Netanyahu completed his work at the UN in 1988 and took part in Likud’s internal elections, which determined the bloc’s future list in the Knesset (Israeli parliament), Lieberman became his assistant.

Since then they have been inseparable. Wherever Netanyahu was, Lieberman always followed him like a persistent shadow. Moreover, he was not interested in advertising and avoided reporters and television cameras. Lieberman's devotion to Netanyahu was absolute. The most important thing for Evik was the promotion of Bibi, as his associates call the Prime Minister. Soon, Lieberman headed Netanyahu’s campaign headquarters in the Likud primaries, and he was elected chairman of the bloc.

The first thing the new leader did was appoint Lieberman as general director of Likud, which in 1993 was on the verge of collapse. Tens of millions of shekels in debt, internal strife, loss of supporters. The bloc's local branches practically did not function, and in public opinion polls, then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was leading by a huge margin.

Lieberman got to work. He fired dozens of useless functionaries who received huge salaries, and brought strict order to the Likud organizational structure. Within a year, he paid off his debts and built the party infrastructure. Netanyahu's popularity began to rise sharply. By the fall of 1995, he was already ahead of Prime Minister Rabin in public opinion polls.

After the assassination of the head of government, the press launched a campaign to discredit and even defame Netanyahu, Likud and the entire right-wing camp. According to polls, Peres was supported by 54 percent of the population, Bibi - only 27. It seemed that everything was lost...

According to journalists who met with Lieberman at the time, he was “absolutely confident of Netanyahu’s victory in the upcoming elections.” Evik did not give up, did not panic, but continued to calmly and methodically carry out his work. And it bore fruit.

The gap between Netanyahu and Peres has narrowed. And yet, the results of the Dahar Institute poll, announced after the polling stations closed, predicted victory for Peres. Stormy rejoicing began at the headquarters of the Labor party. Many in Likud did not hide their tears.

Lieberman remained absolutely calm.

This is just a survey, he told his wife. - You'll see, in the morning there will be a turning point.

He turned out to be right...

Netanyahu became prime minister, who immediately appointed Lieberman as director general of his office. As local journalists joked at the time, “Israeli Chubais,” who played a decisive role in Boris Yeltsin’s victory in the presidential election.

But before the new general director could begin his duties, he was hit with a barrage of criticism. However, this cannot be called criticism. They just poured a tub of slop on him.

The tone was set by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, which characterized Lieberman as a “homo-sovieticus” who came from nowhere. Further more...

But if you look at it objectively, the Israeli media should have carried Lieberman in their arms. After all, he, in essence, was (and continues to be) the embodiment of the idea of ​​​​Zionism. A Jew who repatriated to Eretz Israel, built a house with his own hands, and made his way to the highest spheres of power. In a word, a self-made man.

It is no coincidence that during the ceremony dedicated to the inauguration of the head of the chancellery, Lieberman said:

As someone who immigrated twenty years ago, I can rightfully say that Israel is a small country with unlimited possibilities.

So why did the Israeli “mass media” launch a massive attack on Lieberman, to whom Netanyahu owes much of his victory? The goal is obvious - to get rid of this person.

However, the journalists understood that they would not be able to find incriminating evidence on Evik. His past is impeccable: brilliantly completed university, impeccable service in the army. Wherever he worked, everyone spoke of him as a professional, honest and responsible person. It also didn’t work out to unearth the “strawberry” in family life. Lieberman is an exemplary husband and father. Even working twenty hours a day, he went to the supermarket once a week to buy groceries so that his wife would not carry heavy bags. It is impossible to accuse him of arrogance. The Maariv newspaper published a list of Lieberman's friends - all ordinary people with whom the all-powerful head of the chancellery continued to maintain good relations. Being in a high position, in the company of friends, he willingly told jokes, sang songs with a guitar, and did not refuse a glass of good vodka.

There was practically no hope of finding incriminating evidence, stirring up a scandal and forcing him to resign. Therefore, a different tactic was chosen.

Today one can clearly trace the trend of the Israeli media and the forces that stood behind them. Drive a wedge between Lieberman and Netanyahu. There were rumors that in reality Lieberman decides everything: he appoints people to positions, dictates to Bibi what and how to say. Moreover, it was he who led the formation of the government.

A joke was even born on the sidelines of the Knesset.

Why does only Netanyahu know who will get which ministerial post? - one deputy asks another.

Yes, because Netanyahu is the closest person to Lieberman...

Of course, there was a certain amount of truth in the joke. Yes, everything is decided by the head of government. But Lieberman’s influence on him is difficult to overestimate.

At every convenient and inconvenient occasion, the press focused the attention of readers on Lieberman’s “Russian” origin. The articles certainly mentioned a “heavy Russian accent,” a love of Russian literature, a “Russian” wife, and “Russian” friends. Essentially, the Israelis were told: a certain “homo-sovieticus” had come, somehow befuddled Netanyahu (albeit a right-wing one, but still our “sabra”) and, who knows how, got into power.

Meanwhile, his career, as the Israeli media still recognizes, had no analogues. Having settled in the “Promised Land,” he, without any connections, without rich and influential patrons, did what the scions of high-ranking Israeli families could only dream of.

This is what they couldn’t forgive Lieberman...

LION IS READY TO JUMP

So, Avigdor Lieberman, the former director general of the ministry of the head of government, having gotten rid of the restrictions associated with the status of a government official, began active work. As expected, his first task was to fight the group of so-called “Likud princes,” which poses a certain danger to Netanyahu.

He launched an attack on the holy of holies of the "princes", hitherto under their absolute control - the World Likud. Before Lieberman expressed a desire to run for the post of its chairman, almost no one had heard of the existence of this association. Meanwhile, the Israeli Likud has its branches in dozens of countries in Western Europe and the USA. Canada and Latin America. And although this organization has never played a serious role in Israeli politics, the post of its chairman has always been considered an honorary sinecure. And no more. But the “princes” who ruled the roost in the World Likud and had sufficient power and influence viewed this organization only as a “cover” for countless foreign business trips.

Here, perhaps, it is worth clarifying who is usually called “princes” in Likud. These are the children and grandchildren of prominent Likud politicians, former Knesset members, ministers and even the head of government. They entered politics during the lifetime of their parents and, thanks to the merits of their fathers, very quickly rose to leading roles in the party. These people represent the so-called party aristocracy. They are confident that it was they who were destined by fate to lead the Likud.

They treat Netanyahu with poorly concealed disrespect and consider him an upstart. Although the father of the former prime minister, Professor Ben Zion Netanyahu, always adhered to the ideology of the revisionists and even at one time was Jabotinsky’s personal secretary, he still preferred to devote most of his time and energy to science rather than party activities. Therefore, his son cannot in any way claim the title of “prince”. However, Netanyahu's Likud career has been meteoric...

It is not surprising that the dizzying success of the “upstart Netvanyahu” could not please the “princes”. And the “princes” felt a downright pathological dislike for their closest assistant, Avigdor Lieberman, who played a decisive role in his successes. Still would! Some repatriate, who had neither a father - a party functionary, nor many years of party experience - suddenly pushed the “princes” into the background. And they saw only one thing in Lieberman’s intention to run for the post of head of the World Likud - the desire of the former general director to move to another category.

After all, until now he held the highest positions in the party and government structures. But these were bureaucratic positions. And, as you know, an official can always be transferred to another place, demoted, or simply fired. An official, even the most senior one, in principle, does not pose a danger to a parliamentarian. Another thing is the people's choice. No one can fire him. Unless he himself commits some illegal act and is forced to resign.

If Lieberman had taken the post of chairman of the World Likud, then within four years not only could he not be removed from this position, but most importantly, he would have moved into a completely different category: people's representatives. In this capacity, Lieberman would pose a threat not only to the free trips abroad of “princes” and “princesses”, but also to their privileged position in the party hierarchy. But they could not allow this. And they didn’t allow it... They managed to block Lieberman’s election by hook or by crook.

And yet, Evik showed and proved to his enemies what enormous influence he had in Likud. He understood perfectly well that the position of chairman of the World Likud was not that important. But, by his own admission, he views the fight around her as a test of strength before much more serious battles.

One Israeli journalist, commenting on Lieberman's resignation, noted:

And he jumped: On the bench of the 15th Knesset...

I am concerned about the information blockade of Lieberman's party
Alexander Shekhtman 17.01.2006 09:30:54

My choice after Ariel Sharon’s sudden departure from politics is obvious; he is the only uncompromised “Russian” politician who can honestly and clearly present a program of action that is close to me in the field of security and defending the rights of immigrants from the former USSR. I will remain unconvinced, no matter how much other parties and deputies convince me of the usefulness. It makes no sense to repeat everything that Lieberman said during his work in the government - this is well known, but it is important to remind us all ("Russian" not "Arab" Jews) without our strong leader we will continue to be kept at the social bottom, crush businesses and turn Israeli politics into a farce and an oriental bazaar. We Ashkenazis should vote for the Ashkenazis, especially since Lieberman is a strong and consistent politician. Don't waste your chance! Don't be fooled.

Leon 20.09.2006 01:19:37

Message for Avigdor Lieberman. Dear Mr. Lieberman, help me get a job at the Railway. I am a railway worker by training, I worked here in Israel as a dispatcher at Rakevet, and was fired. I’m trying to return, but it doesn’t work. My specialty: “Construction and operation of tracks and track facilities.”
Thanks in advance
Leon Tarshis, Bat Yam.

Request for a meeting
Solomon Staroselsky, Doctor of Engineering. Sciences, Bat Yam 04.04.2007 06:16:17

Mr. Lieberman, in my opinion, is one of the few in the ruling elite who can significantly influence the future position of our country. This must be done by strengthening the ties of the NDI party with aliyah. In this regard, I ask you, Mr. Editor, to arrange for me a 15-minute audience with Mr. Lieberman at any time convenient for him. The purpose is to present a dual-use technical proposal. Best regards: Dr. Staroselsky

Povodu Sderota
Bentsion Kantor 13.07.2008 10:46:31

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, opening a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that the phenomenon observed in recent years in which politicians have become in the habit of attacking people in uniform - be it the Chief of the General Staff, another officer or a general - absolutely unacceptable and intolerant.

“It is always possible and sometimes even necessary to criticize the minister of defense, the head of government, the political leadership as a whole. But when politicians criticize people in uniform, knowing full well that a person with shoulder straps cannot, does not have the right to answer them, give counter-arguments - this borders on "with an encroachment on the security of the country. I repeat: this is simply unacceptable and I really hope that such a shameful phenomenon will soon be eliminated," said the head of the defense department.

Regarding what is happening in the Gaza Strip, Avigdor Lieberman noted that there is not and has not been any “popular protest” there.

“There was and is a purposeful and aggressive policy of Hamas. 15 thousand people will not gather on their own at the border barriers. They are transported there in an organized manner by buses, and for each trip of such a bus Hamas pays thousands of shekels. Since March 30, Hamas has spent on this new venture - organized unrest at the border is a huge amount of money. Only for each person killed there they pay 3,000 dollars, for each seriously wounded - 500 dollars, and for a moderate wound - 200 dollars. The statistics of those killed and wounded there are known, it is not difficult to multiply. Therefore, I repeat: no there is no popular protest, there is carefully planned and organized violence. Every Friday in Gaza there are calls to get on buses, those who go receive all sorts of incentives, they are paid to participate in clashes with IDF soldiers. This is their new invention in the confrontation, they They called it “return marches”, they completely control the level of tension at the borders.They have a kind of “regulator” with which they can either increase or decrease the level of tension and unrest at will. We also have a “regulator”, it is called the Kerem Shalom checkpoint, and I intend to continue to actively use it, adjusting economic relief in accordance with their behavior, more precisely, the level of violence and tension. If there is violence, strict economic and other restrictions will immediately follow. Accordingly, peace and tranquility directly lead to economic benefits. Hamas regulates the level of violence, and in return we use our regulator,” said Avigdor Lieberman.

But, according to the minister, this is not enough.

“Recently there has been a lot of talk about an alleged “settlement”. On my own behalf, I will add that I do not believe in any “settlement” with Hamas. It did not work in the past, does not work now and will not work in the future. From the recent history can well learn the proper lessons: Peace and tranquility was achieved in Judea and Samaria through Operation Protective Wall, and in the Gaza Strip after Operation Protective Edge we received 4 years of silence - between August 26, 2014 and March 30, 2018. This is , what we got. I have said more than once and I repeat again: Israel does not have the luxury of starting a war when there are other means. We can afford war only when there is no other way out. This is the difference between the Six Days and the First Lebanese wars. And now, regarding the Gaza Strip, we have reached a situation where there is no other way out. Nothing, no means, steps and measures, except the most powerful, crushing blow to Hamas, no longer work and will not work. All means have been exhausted. We no longer have a choice. And Hamas itself openly confirms this. I have already drawn attention more than once to the fact that it is genetically inherent for us Jews not to notice or hear what is intrusively shown and repeated to us. We don't want to see or hear the truth. We are constantly trying to interpret it. When Hitler came to power in Germany, the Jews insisted that he, they say, would not do anything of what he threatened, that, they say, “as soon as he gets to power, he will understand that this is impossible”... They repeated the same thing Jews in Iran in the 70s, on the eve of Khomeini’s seizure of power. And now we have heard a completely harmonious chorus of Hamas leaders: “no concessions, no money transfers, no fuel supplies will help. We will not stop the violence at the border until the blockade is lifted”... That’s it. Without returning the missing, without canceling the main point of their program - the destruction of the Jewish state, without stopping the digging of tunnels and acquiring missiles, without stopping the incitement in Judea and Samaria. There is no trace of any of this in the “settlement” they propose,” said Avigdor Lieberman.

The Minister of Defense also noted that after every murder of a Jew in Judea and Samaria, Hamas comes with public delight and calls to continue in the same spirit...

“In general, within the framework of the “settlement” being pushed either by Qatar or the UN, Hamas will be allowed to incite, celebrate the murder of every Jew, produce weapons, dig tunnels, they will not have to give up anything, including the programmatic demand - the destruction of our state, they there is no need to return our missing... And we will have to present everything to them on a silver platter. It is clear that I consider this absolutely unacceptable, and I am convinced: that’s it! It’s time to decide. All other possibilities have been exhausted. We have provided the opportunity to do something and about what - to agree with the UN envoy, the Egyptians, the Qataris. And to everything there was a clear and clear answer from Hamas. Anyone who will continue to try to “interpret” this answer, claiming that, they say, “they don’t really mean that, that they “they say one thing and do another” - they mean exactly what they say. Therefore, we must draw obvious, obvious conclusions. And not only conclusions. It’s time to act!”, emphasized Avigdor Lieberman.

Avigdor Lieberman
אביגדור ליברמן
Lieberman at the 21st OSCE Conference.
Birth name:	Evet Lvovich Lieberman
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Lieberman Avigdor(born 1958, Chisinau) - Israeli statesman and politician.

early years

Avigdor Liberman was born on July 5, 1958 in Chisinau in the family of Lev Yankelevich and Esther Markovna Liberman. After graduating from high school, he entered the Chisinau Agricultural Institute.

But the Second Lebanon War, in which the State of Israel became involved in July - August 2006, led to a significant reassessment of the situation in the region, as a result of which the “second disengagement” plan was actually buried. At the end of October 2006, NDI joined the government of E. Olmert, as a result of which Lieberman was appointed Minister of Strategic Planning (such a post had never existed before in the history of Israel) and Deputy Prime Minister. The right-wing parties that remained in the opposition sharply criticized the NDI and Lieberman personally for participating in this left-wing government.

Many in the Labor Party opposed participation in the coalition together with NDI, but the only politician who left the government in protest was the Minister of Science, Culture and Sports Ofer Pines. In his new post, Lieberman, as before, played an important role in diplomatic contacts with Russian leaders, doing a lot, in particular, to abolish the visa regime for tourist trips for citizens of Israel and Russia, which came into force in September 2008.

After Prime Minister E. Olmert, returning from the conference on the Middle East settlement, which was held in Annapolis, relied on conducting secret negotiations with the head of the Palestinian Authority M. Abbas on the status of Jerusalem and the withdrawal of Israeli forces and settlements from most of the territory Judea and Samaria, in January 2008, the Israel Our Home party left the government coalition, and Lieberman left his posts.

Cooperation with Likud

In the elections to the 18th Knesset held in 2009, the Israel Our Home party received 15 mandates, forming the third largest parliamentary faction. In the second government of B. Netanyahu, Lieberman received the posts of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the head of the foreign policy department, Lieberman sought to intensify contacts with states in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa, as well as to support “public diplomacy” in order to strengthen Israel’s positive image in the world and counter anti-Semitism. He stressed the importance of opposing any attempt to delegitimize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state in peace and security.

On October 15, 2012, the Knesset decided to dissolve early due to disagreements over the formation of the state budget for 2013. New elections were scheduled for January 22, 2013. On October 25, it was announced that the Likud and Our Home is Israel parties create a single electoral bloc. Although this bloc received significantly fewer votes than its creators expected, it confidently took first place, which allowed B. Netanyahu to remain as head of government and Lieberman to retain his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs. His tenure at the head of the Foreign Ministry was interrupted for almost a year due to an indictment filed against him by the State Prosecutor's Office, but after he was found not guilty by the Jerusalem Magistrates Court, he returned to the government in November 2013 to his previous post, which remained vacant all this time.

As Foreign Minister, Lieberman did a lot to strengthen Israel's relations with Russia, the countries of Eastern Europe and the countries of the so-called. "third world". At the same time, in many Western countries he is perceived as a right-wing politician who is not suitable for serious negotiations. He was practically not involved in B. Netanyahu’s relations with the administration of US President B. Obama. Contrary to popular clichés, Lieberman conducted intense and in-depth negotiations with individual Arab leaders, the details of which were almost never made public.

In opposition after the 2015 elections

On July 7, 2014, Lieberman announced NDI’s withdrawal from the bloc with Likud. In the early elections to the 20th Knesset, held on March 17, 2015, the “Our Home is Israel” party, whose list, as in all previous election campaigns, was headed by Lieberman, received six parliamentary mandates. Although these results disappointed many party activists, one cannot fail to note as an absolute achievement the fact that the party got its representatives into the Knesset for the sixth time in a row, and this became possible, first of all, thanks to Lieberman’s great personal charisma and authority, primarily in the eyes of Russian-speaking Israelis of middle and older age.

Although none of its current or former deputies were ever found guilty of criminal offenses in the first 15 years of the party's existence, years of corruption allegations brought by the police and the press against Lieberman himself, as well as numerous publications reporting on the progress of the police investigation against the general secretary of the NDI and a number of key figures of the party caused serious damage to its popularity, especially among natives of Israel. During the election campaign, Lieberman accused the police of efforts to deliberately destroy the Israel Our Home party.

NDI did not join the government. Lieberman sharply criticized the government's political platform and actions.

Lieberman's plan

Since 2004, Lieberman has been promoting a program for the exchange of territories between the State of Israel and the Palestinian national-territorial entity (Liberman opposes an independent state of the Palestinian Arabs). According to this program, areas inhabited exclusively by Arab populations, even those that are part of the sovereign territory of the State of Israel within the so-called. The Green Line will be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Arabs, while Jewish cities and settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria will be annexed by Israel.

Lieberman actively promoted this program before the 2015 parliamentary elections, but it has not yet become the subject of serious socio-political discussion, and no steps have been taken towards its implementation.

Political struggle in the context of the growing popularity of NDI

NDI's political opponents perceive it as a very serious threat due to the radical nature of the party's program and its growing popularity. Left parties that defend the opposite policy consider the NDI and Lieberman personally to be one of their main opponents. Some parties and movements of the right camp see the NDI as a competitor in the fight for votes.