Five years later, we see the same old Avigdor Lieberman— an ambitious and shrewd politician whose inconsistent ideology will always be subordinated to brazen opportunism
F
ive years is an eternity in politics, but for Avigdor Lieberman, it feels like yesterday.
Back in February 2014 (Issue #498), I wrote a news column that I headlined “Has Lieberman Left the Right?”
The occasion was Lieberman’s uncharacteristic acceptance of Secretary of State John Kerry’s framework for a two-state solution, forsaking his longstanding position of chopping the Palestinian Authority into noncontiguous, self-ruling cantons.
I surmised then that Lieberman’s sudden conversion was motivated by his fourth-place finish in a poll that asked Israelis to name the politician they trusted most to lead the national (right-wing) camp. Scorned by the right, Lieberman reckoned he could attract new followers on the left without antagonizing his base of Russian immigrants, who are foreign policy hardliners but share a strong affinity with the left on social and economic issues.
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