The founder and leader of the Israel Our Home party, which is largely focused on repatriates from the former Soviet Union, has long been working in the Israeli government. He has served as Minister of National Infrastructure and Transport and Foreign Affairs in two governments. Since 2016, Avigdor Lieberman has been the Minister of Defense of Israel.
Short biography
Evik Lvovich Lieberman was born on July 5, 1958 in Soviet Chisinau. In 1978, together with his family, he immigrated to Israel, where he became Avigdor Lieberman. After serving in the army, he studied at the University of Jerusalem at the Faculty of Social Sciences and International Relations. At the same time, he joined one of the leading parties in the country - Likud.
Worked for various private sector companies. In 1986, he was involved in the development and implementation of several projects for the development of Jerusalem. In 1993, he was appointed to the post of general director of the Likud political party. Played a key role in the victory of Benjamin Netanyahu, the candidate ofNational camp, in the election of the prime minister.
The political biography of Israeli Defense Minister Lieberman began in 1996. He received his first appointment to the government of the country to the post of director general of the ministry. After harsh criticism in the media, he resigned, in 1997 he went into business related to trade with the countries of Eastern Europe.
Party Formation
In 1999, the future Minister of Defense of Israel, Avigdor Lieberman, created his own party, which he called "Our Home is Israel". With her, he went to the Knesset elections under the slogan “We are with Lieberman! Without Lieberman - us! The electoral base of the faction was the Russian-speaking diaspora of the country. The party received 4 seats in parliament. The NDI gradually increased the number of its deputies. By 2009, 15 people had already been elected from the party. For the next election in 2012, Likud and NDI went to the polls with a single list, in which Lieberman was the second candidate after Netanyahu.
All these years, Evik has held various ministerial posts in the country's government. He de alt with transport, infrastructure, strategic planning and twice international issues. Yevgeny Primakov considered Lieberman to be very radical and stated that under him the Arabs would never have received political rights and citizenship, only a residence permit.
Appointment as Israeli Defense Minister
In 2016, a faction of the Israel Our Home party joined the ruling coalition, which enabled the Prime Minister to createparliamentary majority with one vote. In exchange for this, in May of the same year, Netanyahu announced his intention to appoint Avigdor Lieberman as Israeli defense minister.
First of all, Arab and liberal politicians were indignant, since they repeatedly accused Lieberman of racism. Some Western publications called him a vicious chauvinist, an anti-Arab demagogue. The Israeli press wrote that he was a neo-fascist and a gangster with a diploma. At the same time, his supporters noted that, as a minister, it was Avigdor who developed the Bedouin settlements. And he appointed Durzas, Ethiopians, Bedouin Arabs and representatives of other minorities to high posts.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that the country was invaded by dangerous extremists and resigned in protest against the deal. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Arikat said the new appointment would lead to apartheid, religious and political extremism. The new Israeli Defense Minister Lieberman, in turn, said that he would be a responsible and prudent politician.
Relations with Russia
The Russian and Israeli Defense Ministries maintained good working contacts, trying to avoid clashes during military operations in Syria. But everything changed after the Il-20 of the Russian Air Force was shot down over the Mediterranean on September 17, 2018. Russia blamed the Israeli pilots, who, in their opinion, covered themselves with a plane, and it was hit by a Syrian air defense missile. The press service of the Israeli army expressed regret over the deathmilitary personnel.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman sent to Moscow to clarify the situation the commander of the country's Air Force, who provided information that the tragedy occurred as a result of indiscriminate firing of Syrian air defense. He also expressed hope that the situation could be resolved and relations restored.
