Avigdor Liberman, chair of the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu opposition party, on Monday ruled out joining a minority governing coalition, after the prospect was floated by frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot, whose Yashar party is neck-and-neck with, or slightly ahead of, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud in opinion polls.

Eisenkot said last week that if the bloc of Jewish-majority parties opposed to Netanyahu were to receive 52 to 58 seats in the Knesset at the upcoming October 27 national election, they could form a coalition that “will decide to deal only with issues that have very broad national consensus.”

Polls have consistently shown that neither the pro- nor anti-Netanyahu bloc is slated to win a 61-seat majority in the Knesset, raising the possibility of a minority government running the country.

Such a government would potentially be approved in the Knesset via the support or abstention of majority-Arab parties.

But Liberman ruled out the possibility in a statement published on social media on Monday.

“I want to make it clear here and now that Yisrael Beytenu will not be a partner in any constellation of minority government, period,” wrote the hawkish lawmaker.

He reiterated his stance in an interview with Army Radio, saying that “when it comes to 58 seats, there won’t be a minority government. I won’t be there.”

Polls show Liberman winning around 10 seats in the October election, making it unlikely that Eisenkot would succeed in forming a minority government without his........

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