Lieberman is the worst possible choice for FM. Strong and smart, he is characteristically rough, which antagonizes foreign diplomats. After running at loggerheads with Mubarak, Lieberman concluded his first trip to Europe. The FM brought no positive results, just a shower of cold and hostile comments by European leaders.

The government will appoint Lieberman to head the strategic dialogue committee with the US. Where Peres and Netanyahu have failed, Lieberman would be a disaster.

A great guy to head Shabak, Lieberman is out of place in the Foreign Ministry.

The Israel Air Force is considering purchasing F-15SE jets with limited stealth capability. The F-35 deal appears to have been shelved because of the enormous cost and because of America’s refusal to declassify the avionics. Oddly, the F-35’s rather limited operational characteristics, which make it unsuitable for any major mission, did not derail the talks.

F-15 Stealth Eagle jets are just as unnecessary to Israel as the F-35. At $100 million apiece, they would be too expensive to risk and too few to carry out any major operation. Their export versions are susceptible to Russian S-300 missiles at a range of fifty to eighty miles, and are even vulnerable to the Chinese version of the S-300 reportedly used by Iran. The S-400, installed by Russia in the Syrian port of Tartus, can take out F-15SE jets reliably.

F-15 Stealth Eagle is not a fifth-generation fighter jet; it only has some advanced features. Russian MiG-1.42s and Su-37s are more capable jets at half the price. And unlike Obama, the Russians would be gladly sell us the planes without asking who are we going to bomb next.