Israeli daily Haaretz says it is not proper for Avigdor Lieberman to continue serving as deputy PM and FM

Israeli daily Haaretz said on Saturday that it is inconceivable for Israel to be represented internationally by a person who's seen by his own general prosecution as a serial fraudster, a cheat, a money launderer and a harasser of witnesses, in reference to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Haaretz noted that during the past two decades, since the indictments against former minister Aryeh Deri and former deputy minister Rafael Pinhasi, the custom in Israel has been that cabinet ministers resign their post if the attorney general decides to indict them.

The Israeli daily said that the middle phase, the hearing, in terms of a right and not an obligation of the candidate for indictment, allows the minister to retain his or her place in the cabinet. “But it is more proper in this context to emulate former Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson, who resigned during his investigation.”

Haaretz concluded that it is not proper for Lieberman to continue serving as deputy prime minister and foreign minister.