Lieberman Ditches Rumors of Split with Likud

The “Likud Beiteinu” party, a merger of the Likud and the Yisrael Beiteinu party headed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, will remain, he told reporters on Monday.

Israel Beiteinu had the option of backing out of the agreement for a period of time after the elections, but Lieberman said he is sticking with Likud.

He admitted that there are members in his party who are not happy about the results of the elections, which saw the Likud in a tailspin but winning the largest number of Knesset seats by virtue of the merger.

Lieberman also is not in the strongest of positions because of a criminal indictment against him on breach of public trust. He has stepped down as Foreign Minister, but Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is acting in his place and has reserved the position for him in the event that he is acquitted.