Yesterday in Israel, an important event happened: the leader of the political party Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Is Our Home) Avigdor Lieberman signed an agreement to enter coalition with the ruling party Likud, headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

     The leader of Yisrael Beiteinu party, the Minister of Defence of Israel Avigdor Lieberman and Honorary Consul of the State of Israel in Western Ukraine Oleg Vyshniakov

          The leader of Yisrael Beiteinu party, the Minister of Defence of Israel Avigdor Lieberman and the leader of Likud party, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The photographer is Emil Salman

This event was the result of a long negotiation process. The main issue, which was a stumbling block between the politicians, was the pension payment for elderly immigrants from the former USSR. As a result, the parties managed to agree that the pension reform will be distributed to all categories of citizens, without any exception by place of birth or former employment. The total value of the rise in pensions and benefits for elderly Israelis will be 1.3-1.4 billion shekels (330-360 mln. US dollars) for Israel.

I want to explain why this event is also important for Ukraine. First of all, because Yisrael Beiteinu is a party of the politicians who represent the interests of our expatriates and immigrants in general. And, as we see, they can do that well.

In my opinion, the signing of the coalition agreement between Yisrael Beiteinu and Likud is an example of the real democratic process in the country. Despite the disagreements or disputes, Israeli politicians always put not personal or political gain, but the interests of citizens in the first place. Therefore, in contrast to the Ukrainian lawmakers, they are able to come to the right decision and compromise quickly. In Israel they always agree about everything not because someone has been bribed or intimidated, but because, first, there are not so many deputies and politicians, and if you tarnish your reputation – that is it, you can forget about your political career. And secondly, because every vote in Parliament is very important: there are only 120 deputies in the Knesset of Israel, so every vote is as valuable as gold. To achieve political longevity in Israel is possible only by creating real laws, rather than engaging in demagoguery.

At the ceremony of signing the leaders of the parties - Avigdor Lieberman and Benjamin Netanyahu - admitted that they had disagreements, but for the benefit of the citizens of the Jewish state they are willing to work together. That is what I call an example of productive cooperation and responsible government position.

I have known Avigdor Lieberman for quite a long time. This is a very responsible and wise politician, with great managerial experience. Avigdor Lieberman is known for his quite pragmatic views, as well as the absolute intolerance to any manifestations of terrorism. Avigdor Lieberman is one of the few people who understands all the perspectives of cooperation with our country, is able to distinguish propaganda from reality and do not go to extremes. He is also known for his positive attitude to Ukraine. I am confident that the entry of his party into the ruling coalition will strengthen the development of relations between Ukraine and Israel. Moreover, now Avigdor Lieberman will head one of the main Israeli ministries - the Ministry of Defence (the budget of Ministry of Defence of Israel is 14-15 billion US dollars for 2016, 17% of the total budget).