JERUSALEM: Fresh tensions have erupted between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, press reports said on Sunday.
The crisis in the coalition government erupted after the adoption on Friday of a draft budget that Lieberman said was detrimental to five ministries held by his ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party.
The party’s five ministers unanimously voted against the biannual draft budget, which was supported by Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is close to Netanyahu and a member of his rightist Likud party.
The draft budget must still pass through parliament.
The Maariv daily said that Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov of Yisrael Beitenu accused Steinitz of "treason," at a cabinet meeting rich with insults.
The newspaper said that Lieberman marked his own dissatisfaction on Friday by naming a new UN representative, Reuven Meron, currently ambassador in Bogota, without first obtaining Netanyahu’s approval.
Early this month Lieberman had warned of a government crisis following revelations that a secret meeting had taken place without his knowledge between Trade Minister Benjamin Eliezer and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
With 15 members of parliament, Yisrael Beitenu is the largest coalition partner of Netanyahu’s Likud party.
