Strains emerge between Israeli PM, foreign minister



Strains emerge between Israeli PM, foreign minister Jerusalem: Benjamin Netanyahu has rebuked his combative foreign minister for attacking members of the Prime Minister's Likud party, pointing to the strains within Israel's coalition government.

Avigdor Lieberman criticised the Likud leaders for opposing his initiative to investigate human rights groups critical of the Israeli government.

Netanyahu's office said on Tuesday that the Prime Minister "utterly rejects" the comments and said Likud is a "democratic and pluralistic party and not a dictatorship of one opinion”.

Lieberman is trying to get Parliament to launch an inquiry into the sources of funding for Israeli human rights groups. In a rambling press conference on Monday, Lieberman called the groups "terrorist collaborators”.

Bureau Report