Avigdor Liberman says he has no desire to become Knesset speaker

Avigdor Liberman, the chairman of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, said he has been approached several times about taking the post of Knesset speaker and that he does not want it. The Times of Israel reported that Liberman made the statement in a post on X, and that he did not say who had contacted him.

In the post, as quoted by The Times of Israel, Liberman opened with the line "The evildoers don't rest for a moment" before stating that he had "no desire or intention" of serving as speaker. Hebrew outlets carried the same message within minutes of one another. The Israeli television news outlet N12, citing its correspondent Dafna Liel, and the political commentator Amit Segal both reported that Liberman described receiving a number of inquiries, while the news site Ynet carried a shorter version saying he had no wish to hold the role. The Jerusalem Post also reported that Liberman had denied wanting the position.

Who Liberman is and why the speakership matters now

Liberman heads Yisrael Beytenu, which the reports identify as an opposition party. Photographs accompanying the coverage show him on election night, October 27, 2026, at Yisrael Beytenu's Tel Aviv campaign base, which places his remarks in the days after the vote and before the newly elected parliament has convened.

The Knesset is Israel's parliament. Its speaker chairs the plenary sessions, oversees much of the chamber's procedure, and is a senior figure in the country's political order. The current speaker, according to The Times of Israel, is Amir Ohana of the Likud party.

The reported plan to replace Ohana

Liberman's post did not appear in isolation. The Times of Israel noted that it followed a report on Israeli television the previous day that figures in the opposition were planning to remove Ohana from the speaker's chair at the point when the new Knesset is sworn in. That context helps explain why Liberman's name may have come up: a senior opposition leader would be an obvious candidate if such a move went ahead.

According to The Times of Israel, however, it is not clear whether Liberman would support an effort to replace Ohana at all. The paper pointed to his stated opposition to working with the Knesset's Arab parties, and said their backing would be required for any such move to succeed. Liberman's post, as reported, addressed only whether he personally would take the job, not whether he would vote for someone else to replace the sitting speaker.

Small differences in the wording

The reports agree on the substance but render Liberman's words slightly differently. Ynet's alert quoted him as saying he had no desire for the role. N12's version quoted him as saying he had no intention of holding it. Amit Segal's account and The Times of Israel's translation combined both, quoting him as having neither the desire nor the intention. The Times of Israel also framed the approaches as inquiries about demanding the speaker's role, a nuance the shorter Hebrew alerts did not include. N12 and The Times of Israel both included the remark about evildoers not resting; Ynet and Segal did not.

Segal's account described the approaches as having come from the media. The other reports do not say that, and The Times of Israel specifically noted that Liberman did not identify who had contacted him.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports names the people or parties who approached Liberman, or says how many approaches there were beyond his description of several. None explains whom he meant by "evildoers", or whether the remark was aimed at the opposition figures reportedly planning to oust Ohana, at his political rivals more broadly, or at someone else.

The reports also do not say who, if anyone, the opposition intends to put forward as an alternative speaker, whether the reported plan has the votes it would need, or when the new Knesset will be sworn in. They do not record any response from Ohana, from Likud, or from the Arab parties whose support The Times of Israel said would be necessary. Finally, Liberman's statement as reported does not say how Yisrael Beytenu would vote if a challenge to Ohana were brought.