Avigdor Lieberman (born Evet Lvovich Liberman on June 5, 1958, in Kishinev, Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, now Chișinău, Moldova) is a prominent far-right Israeli politician and the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, which he founded in 1999 to represent Russian-speaking immigrants. He immigrated to Israel in 1978, served in the IDF, and has held multiple high-level government positions including Minister of National Infrastructure (2001-2002), Minister of Transportation (2003-2004), Deputy Prime Minister (2006-2008, 2009-2012), Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Strategic Affairs, Defense Minister (2016-2018), and Minister of Finance (2021-2022). Known for his hardline nationalist and security policies, he advocates for secular, hawkish approaches, loyalty oaths for Arab Israelis, and aggressive stances against Hamas and Hezbollah, and is often critical of human rights NGOs. A polarizing figure, he has served in Netanyahu's coalitions, though his party has oscillated between alliances with Likud and opposition, with recent refusals to join Netanyahu-led governments due to ideological and personal rifts. He has faced corruption allegations that were later dropped.