Avigdor Lieberman: Israel’s new hard man

A former nightclub bouncer who courts controversy through his ultra-right-wing views on how to deal with the Palestinians - and makes even the tough-talking Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu look like a pussycat - could find himself at the head of Israel's third largest political party after next Tuesday's general election.

The latest opinion polls suggest that a dramatic surge in support for Avigdor Lieberman will sweep his Yisrael Beiteinu faction past both the governing Kadima coalition and the historically dominant Labour party in the 120-seat Knesset. In that event, he would not hesitate to demand a senior cabinet post from Netanyahu, who seems almost certain to become Israel's next prime minister.

It is not hard to imagine how the Obama administration would react to that: the burly, bearded Lieberman has publicly advocated bombing Tehran to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, denounced the one