Who is the real boss in Israel?

On the first day of the new Israeli government, the fog cleared: it's a Lieberman government.

The day started with a celebration at the President's office. All the members of this bloated government - 30 ministers and eight deputy ministers - were dressed up in their best finery and posed for a group photo.

Benjamin Netanyahu read an uninspired speech, which included the worn-out cliches that are necessary to set the world at ease: the government is committed to peace, it will negotiate with the Palestinian National Authority, and so on.

Avigdor Lieberman hurried from there to the foreign Office, for the ceremonial change of ministers. He, too, made a speech - but it was not a routine speech at all.

"Si vis pacem, para bellum (if you want peace, prepare for war)," declared the new foreign minister. When a diplomat quotes this ancient Roman saying, the world pays no attention to the first part, but only to the second.

Coming from the mouth of the already infamous Lieberman, it was a clear threat: the new government is entering upon a path of war, not of peace.

With this sentence, Lieberman negated Netanyahu's speech and made headlines around the world.

Not content with quoting the Romans, he explained specifically why he used this motto. Concessions, he said, do not bring peace, but quite the reverse. The world respected and admired Israel when it won the Six-Day War.

Two fallacies in one sentence. Returning occupied territory is not a "concession". When a thief is compelled to return stolen property, or when a squatter vacates an apartment that does not belong to him, that is not a "concession".

And the admiration for Israel in 1967 came from a world that saw us as a little, valiant country that had stood up to mighty armies out to destroy us.

But today's Israel looks like a brutal Goliath, while the occupied Palestinians are now viewed as a David with his slingshot, fighting for his life.

With this speech, Lieberman succeeded in stirring the world, but even more in humiliating Netanyahu.

However, the world wants to be deceived. A White House spokesman announced that as far as the American administration is concerned, it is Netanyahu's blah-blah-blah that counts, not Lieberman's straight talking. And Hillary Clinton was not ashamed to call Lieberman and congratulate him on assuming office.

That was the first test of strength inside the Netanyahu-Lieberman-Barak triangle. Lieberman has demonstrated his contempt for both Netanyahu and former defence minister Ehud Barak.

His political base is secure, because he is the only person who can topple the government at any moment. After the Knesset debate on the new government, only 69 members voted for it.

If one adds the five Labour members who "were present but did not participate in the vote" (a voting device that is less negative than abstaining), the government has 74 votes. Meaning: without Lieberman's 15 members, the government does not command a majority.

His speech was intended to underline this political reality. He as much as told Netanyahu: If you intend to shut me up, forget it. In fact, he held a pistol to Netanyahu's head - in this case, it could be a German Luger Parabellum, a pistol whose name derives from the Roman saying.

The full extent of Lieberman's chutzpah came to the fore only an hour later. From the Foreign Office ceremony he hurried to another ritual ministerial handover, this time at the Ministry for Internal Security (formerly called the Ministry of Police).

What business did he have there? None. It is highly unusual for a minister to attend such a ceremony in another ministry.

The riddle was solved the next day, when Lieberman spent seven hours in a police interrogation room, answering questions about suspected bribery, money laundering and such, in connection with huge sums that were transferred from abroad to a company that belongs to his 23-year-old daughter.

That explains his presence at the police ministry ceremony. Lieberman was photographed standing next to the chiefs of the criminal investigation department.

It would be hard to see his appearance there as anything other than a crude and shameless threat against those who were to interrogate him on the morrow.

His presence at the ceremony declared: I am the man who appointed the minister who is now in charge of each of your careers, for promotion or termination.

And the same message went out to the judges: I have appointed the new Justice Minister, and I shall decide upon the promotion of all of you.

What is Lieberman's solution to the historic Israeli-Arab conflict? In the past, he spoke about a regime of cantons for the Palestinians.

They will live in several enclaves in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which will be disconnected from each other and dominated by Israel. No Palestinian state, of course, no Arab East Jerusalem.

As far as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is concerned, the controversy between former prime minister Ehud Olmert and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni on the one side and Netanyahu and Lieberman on the other is about tactics rather than strategy.

The strategy of all of them is to prevent the creation of a normal, free and viable Palestinian state.

Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom.