Report Claims Why Liberman Hates Netanyahu; PM: It’s a Lie

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu threatened to sue Channel 12 and its newscasters if the station did not retract a report in which Avigdor Liberman accused Netanyahu and his attorneys of filing police complaints against him and his family. “These accusations are another pathetic attempt by Liberman to justify his joining a dangerous leftwing government supported by the United Arab List,” Netanyahu wrote in a social media post. “There is a limit to the fake news spread by him.”

Channel 12 earlier reported on conversations between Liberman and supporters, in which he blamed Netanyahu for the deterioration of their relationship. Netanyahu, he said, had seven times in 2019 filed complaints with police against Liberman over corruption and tax issues. Although most of the complaints were filed anonymously, “it’s clear to me that Netanyahu and his attorney Amit Hadad, who hired a private detective, are behind this. According to my code of behavior this is a sin that I can never forgive, not even on Yom Kippur. The Likud should stop sending me messengers. The idea that I would ever join a Netanyahu government is unthinkable.”

The accusations are libelous, Netanyahu wrote, and if Channel 12 did not retract the report and issue a correction to the effect that Netanyahu was not responsible for those complaints, “we will file a libel suit against them. It’s amazing that they did not even speak to us first for a response” before broadcasting the story. Channel 12 said it had no comment.