Netanyahu and Lieberman Agree to Expand Settlements

Last week's reports of the Binyamin Netanyahu-Avigdor Lieberman agreement were incomplete; in addition to the agreement released to the press, Netanyahu and Lieberman also secretly agreed to expand settlements.

Israel Radio News reports that:

Yisrael Beiteinu and the Likud agreed in the coalition negotiations to build in the E-1 area between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem.

According to a source close to the negotiations, this was agreed upon, despite the fact that it does not appear in the official coalition agreement between the two parties. According to plans of the Maale Adumim municipality, about 3,000 housing units and tourist sites are slated to be built in the area.The US administration is opposed to this initiative.  Sources in Yisrael Beiteinu and the Likud preferred not to comment on the report. 

Maale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel said to Army Radio that Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman had promised him that the construction in E-1 would be carried out in the coming years. Kashriel:
"It's not important to me whether this is written in a document or not.
There have been a lot of written documents. There is one thing that is important to me-construction."

Still, following the Labor-Likud agreement, Avigdor Lieberman is reportedly unhappy with the deal he made with Netanyahu.

According to Yuval Karni in Yediot Acharonoth:

Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman has expressed great dissatisfaction following the coalition agreement between the Likud and the Labor Party, saying that the Labor Party received "too many portfolios."
In closed conversations, Lieberman said that Barak brings "half a party" to the coalition and is receiving positions in return as if he had "a party and a half." Today, Lieberman intends to convene a consultation with senior members of his party in order to examine his options for voicing protest.  However, sources close to Lieberman in the faction said last night that he did not intend to derail the agreement with the Likud, since he supported the idea of a unity government in principle and said that a new government should be formed as soon as possible.

It should be noted that the coalition agreement with the Labor Party did not detract positions or powers from Yisrael Beiteinu, but Lieberman believes that the Labor Party received [portfolios] beyond its relative size.  
A Yisrael Beiteinu source explained yesterday: "It doesn't make sense for a faction of 15 seats to receive a certain number of ministers, while a faction that can give six or seven votes receives better conditions.  The sense is that the Labor Party received twice as much as we did."  Lieberman spoke to Netanyahu in person on the matter, and conveyed a message in the following vein: "The Labor Party's inclusion contributes to the stability of the government, but the distribution of the spoils is unreasonable."  The Yisrael Beiteinu chairman refused to comment on the report.

Sources close to Netanyahu said that they did not know anything about a crisis with Lieberman.  Binyamin Netanyahu's bureau stated in
response: "Lieberman is a loyal, natural and strategic partner in Netanyahu's government."