Play it surprised: Liberman asked if he would sit with Abbas – and dodged

Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman was asked tonight after the publication of election exit polls whether he would agree to sit in the government with Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas. Contrary to his firm statements before the elections, Liberman did not repeat his explicit opposition and settled for an evasive answer: 'Guys, we are what we say – we say. Thank you.'

Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman was asked tonight after the publication of election exit polls whether he would agree to sit in the government with Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas. Contrary to his firm statements before the elections, in which he said he would not sit with Ra'am 'under any circumstances' and called them 'separatists', this time Liberman did not repeat his explicit opposition and settled for an evasive answer: 'Guys, we are what we say – we say. Thank you.' The answer comes against the backdrop of the exit poll results, according to which the opposition bloc wins 52–53 seats and the Arab parties receive 17–18 seats, making the question of cooperation with Ra'am central to attempts to form the next government. The article notes that Liberman chose not to explicitly repeat the commitment he presented to his voters before the elections.