Yes, Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is on TIME Magazine's The Most Influential People in the World list, not two-time Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu nor Tsippi Livni nor the Ehuds, Olmert and Barak.
No surprise. Bibi's stuck in that empty bagel hole trying to find the elusive "please everyone" shelter. Leaders don't hide in shelters.
A leader exudes confidence not bagel-twisted compromise.
Please, don't get me wrong. I honestly don't trust Lieberman, and I'm not one of his fans. I admire his charisma and choice of words which suit what your typical Israeli is looking for.
He's a different sort of politician than Ruby Rivlin who touched all bases in his Yom Zikaron, Soldiers and Terror Victims Memorial Day torch-lighting speech. (If there's any problem with the video, just click the previous highlighted text.)
Sorry, but it's in Hebrew. Click here for the English translation on the IMRA site. Every time I hear it, all I can think of is how he would have made a better Israeli President than Shimon Peres.
Back to Lieberman: There's an irony in the words used in TIME:
The new Israeli and American administrations may be on a collision course. And the co-navigator of the Israeli ship of state is Avigdor Lieberman, the Foreign Minister, who heads the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu (Israel Is Our Home) party, the main partner of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud in the new coalition government.
"Co-Navigator" The term means joint leader. But Bibi Netanyahu isn't on the list of the One Hundred Most Influential People in The World.
Sorry, Bibi, from the "center" one follows. You're not a leader until you take a real stand.
