Avigdor Liberman, the Israeli hardliner and leader of the secular-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, has been formally appointed as Israel’s defence minister.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed the deal for the controversial cabinet decision on Wednesday, shoring up his fragile one-seat majority in the 120-member parliament.
Mr Netanyahu invited Mr Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party into government last week in an attempt to bolster his small governing majority last week. In turn, Mr Lieberman reportedly demanded he be appointed as Defence Minister as a condition, thus forcing Mr Netanyahu to ask the current defence minister Moshe Yaalon to stand aside.
