„Lieberman‘s biggest problem is whether he’s up to the job of running Israel‘s military. Unlike most defense ministers who are former generals, Lieberman has no particular security expertise. The last time the country had a person in that post with a similarly thin military resume – Labor‘s Amir Peretz – was a cautionary tale. Peretz presided over disastrous 2006 Lebanon War and is best remembered for a picture in which he was caught looking through binoculars with the caps on the lenses. (…)
Where does this leave Israel and its relations with the United States as well as the prospects for peace? Despite the apocalyptic rhetoric from the left about Lieberman‘s extremism and the sniping from the right about his qualifications for his new post, the Cabinet shakeup changes nothing about Israel‘s strategic position. Peace wasn‘t just around the corner even if Netanyahu had made a deal with Herzog. Nor will a new defense minister change anything about the ongoing standoff with Hamas in Gaza. Similarly, the strategic relationship with the United States hinges more on the question of who is running things in Washington than who is running the defense ministry in Tel Aviv. (…) For all of the sound and fury about the Cabinet shuffle, nothing important has changed which is, of course, both good and bad news for the Jewish state.“
(Jonathan S. Tobin: „What Israel‘s Shakeup Won‘t Mean“)
