That the new Israeli right-wing coalition government will most likely be obstructionist has long been a foregone conclusion, although the fact that they’ve come out swinging right from the outset has made the abrasiveness of madmen like Avigdor Lieberman all the more unnerving.
And just so as not to leave anyone not alienated, the freshly minted cabinet is already taking up Lieberman and Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard lines, in defiance of explicit US statements. In an interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, Netanyahu said Israel would be willing to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities if the US failed to bring about adequate deterrence.
And now his environment minister appears incredulous:
“Israel does not take orders from [Barack] Obama,” Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) said on Monday, responding to an earlier statement by the US president in which he reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to all previous understandings between Israel and the Palestinians, including the process launched at Annapolis, Maryland, in 2007.
(Hat tip to the Daily Dish)
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