In a dramatic prediction, a spokesman for Israeli former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that the recently-formed partnership between his Yisrael Beiteinu party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud will be dissolved immediately after the national elections on Jan. 22.

The spokesman told the Ha'aretz daily that Yisrael Beiteinu will not operate in unison with Likud, with each party having its own lawmakers in the 19th parliament.

The disunity has been outlined in an agreement that preceded the announcement of the Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu joint ticket, he told Ha'aretz.

That agreement, submitted to the Central Election Committee in late November, states that the final status of the merger will be determined within one month after the elections, a clause clearly meant to give Lieberman leeway to examine the line-up of the next government and decide his party's future in it.

Lieberman resigned as foreign minister on Dec. 16, following a decision by the Israeli Justice Ministry to indict him on breach of trust and fraud charges, but has retained the leadership of his party and is No. 2 on its joint slate with Likud.

"It seems, however, that Lieberman is not willing to wait that long to end the marriage," Ha'aretz averred.

However, The Jerusalem Post quoted a Yisrael Beiteinu spokesman, apparently the same one who spoke with the daily, as saying that " contrary to the story published in Ha'aretz, in the agreement signed between Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu... it is explicitly written that the agreement regarding the unification of the parties will be made a month after the election."

The spokesman further reiterated a statement issued by Likud in response to the Ha'aretz report that both parties "are running for the Knesset together, and will cooperate closely and fully at the highest levels, and no unification will break down."

Prior to the official denial by Yisrael Beitienu, Likud cabinet ministers anonymously responded to the former's announcement regarding its plan to disunite. One reportedly welcomed the decision, telling Ha'aretz he was not altogether sure he would like "to see the two parties sitting together for the entire lifetime" of the 19th parliament.

Another minister accused Lieberman of "hitching a ride" on Likud, noting that most recent polls give an average of 34 parliamentary seats to a Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu joint ticket, while Likud on its own has recently lost seats to Habayit Hayehudi (The Jewish Home), an up-and-coming list with a far-right platform that purports to give voters a more hawkish alternative to Likud concerning the future of West Bank settlements and Israel's stand vis a vis the Palestinians.

"We lost six and are left with only 21 seats, while Lieberman lost only two and is left with 12," the minister told Ha'aretz. " Now it's clear to everyone that Lieberman made the better deal," he said. Endi

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