Monday, November 16, 2009

Lieberman ends brief coalition threat; Netanyahu promises Aliyah Budget by Next Monday

(Jpost).Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will meet at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on Tuesday night to settle a dispute over a NIS 20 million cut in the budget of the Israel Beiteinu-controlled Immigrant Absorption Ministry.

The two men met on Monday afternoon just an hour and a half after Lieberman dropped a political bombshell at a hastily-called press conference when he announced that his party would boycott all voting on the Knesset floor.

Netanyahu told Lieberman at the meeting that he would find a way to restore the cut. In the interim, Lieberman agreed that his party would maintain loyalty to the government and continue voting for coalition bills.