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‘‘What matters is not necessarily the formal severity of the crime but the potential harm in the public’s faith in the government and whether the person can continue to project integrity,’’ Moshe Negbi, Israel Radio’s legal affairs commentator, said.




Known for his Russian-accented monotone, he became a national figure in 1996 Netanyahu’s chief of staff during his previous term as prime minister. He later quit the Likud and was elected to parliament in 1999 as head of Yisrael Beitenu (Israel Our Home), a secular hawkish party he established to represent the more than 1 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union.


Lieberman is known for inflammatory rhetoric that has at times agitated his partners in government. He has called for executing Israeli Arab lawmakers who met with leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. As a lawmaker in 2008, he said Egypt’s then-President Hosni Mubarak ‘‘can go to hell.’’

More recently, Lieberman pushed a series of legislative proposals that critics said were anti-Arab, including a failed attempt to require Israelis to sign a loyalty oath or have their citizenship revoked. He has also called for redrawing Israel’s border to place Arab towns under Palestinian jurisdiction.

He also has embarrassed Netanyahu by expressing contrasting views to that of the government, including skepticism over the chances of reaching peace with the Palestinians. Lieberman has called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an ‘‘obstacle to peace’’ and urged his removal.



Associated Press writer Lauren E. Bohn contributed to this report.