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MARC STEINER: So in the brief time we have left here, Lia, so what do you think this will mean? I mean, in terms of Israeli politics, which has shifted further and further right over the decades? I mean, what will this actually mean between now and September, and in the future? Will it change anything? Does this really mean anything fundamental besides the fact historically it's the first time that a prime minister has not been able to form a government in Israel after an election? What does it really mean?
LIA TARACHANSKY: What it really means I can't tell you, because I can't read the future, and we've seen in the Israeli politics scheme that whenever someone says things are going like this right now, and it's likely that therefore they will go like that, they have been proven wrong.
But I will say again I'm paying attention to the way that this whole thing played out. Right? So the Israeli press, whether truthfully or misleadingly, have been playing this scenario where they seem to have bought into the idea that until the very last minute, Netanyahu was genuinely trying to form a coalition. So that's one thing I'm paying attention to, because if they have been pushing it, they've been pushing it very convincingly, which means that either it is true or they have bought into the idea that it is true. So that's one thing I'm paying attention to.
I'm not entirely convinced that Netanyahu was intending on building a coalition, even though he was furious, quote-unquote, when he failed. Netanyahu is a remarkable actor. And you can see that in a documentary that recently came out called King Bibi. He is incredibly good at putting on a show. When the the Knesset came out of the vote to dismantle itself and call for elections, there were a number of politicians that were being interviewed in the Israeli press. But you have to remember that at that point it's 12:30 at night. So if people are watching, these are the kinds of people who really care about the Israeli political landscape. They're not your average citizen. To those people, the politicians are playing a particular role. Gantz, again, you can write him off. I mean, he was as vanilla and non-concrete as Gantz gets. Netanyahu has spent his little time in the limelight personally attacking Lieberman. And if you look at the Netanyahu-Lieberman relationship, they have been in government together, in the cabinet together for many years. Lieberman has had ministerial roles from national infrastructure to defense. And they have been on an up and down kind of relationship; mostly down, with mostly Netanyahu attacking Lieberman.
The height of that was last night when he came out of that vote, and basically personally attacked Lieberman, calling him, again, the worst word you can call someone in the Israeli political landscape today, a leftist. Which of course Lieberman is anything but aLieberman is the original political troll. Lieberman would jump on any opportunity possible to say the most ridiculous, racist, misogynist things possible to get media press. That's who Lieberman is. And underneath that he has consistently held alt-right positions. So calling him a leftist is just a personal attack.
Then Lieberman comes out of that same vote. And what does he do? He doesn't attack Netanyahu personally. Lieberman takes his time in the limelight to talk about the Likud Party, and how unfortunate it is that after so many attempts the Likud Party was not able to form a coalition. So he meticulously watches his words, which is not what Lieberman is known for doing, and does not attack Netanyahu personally. Which tells me that Lieberman again here is playing the long game. He knows that the election's coming. He knows that he needs to now seem as the reasonable middle between the so-called Gantz followers who have no real political unity, no real position, and no platform, and the hard right that supports Netanyahu.
So already, 10 minutes after the vote takes place, Lieberman is positioning himself for the next election and trying to position himself as the reasonable moderate right, prompting the renowned Israeli journalist Gideon Levy to write an op ed in Haaretz today saying before you go voting for Lieberman, please try to remember who he is. The fact that Gideon Levy has to even say that says mountains about the way that the media has played this and the way that the politicians have been playing the media in this entire so-called crisis.
MARC STEINER: Well, Lia Tarachansky, I really appreciate you parsing reality here for us. It's really interesting. I think we learned a lot. I appreciate your work, and appreciate you taking the time today. Thank you so much.
LIA TARACHANSKY: Thanks for having me, Marc.
MARC STEINER: And I'm Marc Steiner here for The Real News Network. Thank you all for joining us. Take care.
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