Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Tuesday that the election campaign had not started yet, but "as far as the police and 433 it is already at it's height."
Liberman, speaking at a conference of Yisrael Beytenu activists in Ariel, was referring to the Police's Lahav 433 unit's investigation into corruption allegations against a number of public personages, including many from his party.
He said that Yisrael Beytenu was the subject of a witchhunt and that the affair should not be called the Yisrael Beytenu affair, but rather the Lahav 433 affair. Liberman said that he trusted the police and justice establishment to come to the correct conclusion regarding the allegations.
The foreign minister said that many on the right had claimed that Yisrael Beytenu was going to the left, but he stated, in all actuality, whereas Likud ministers voted in favor of the disengagement from Gaza, Yisrael Beytenu MKs would never consider such a thing.
"When people say we're left-wing, just remember who voted to evacuate Gaza and who gave away Hebron," he said.
That's the difference between a party that talks and a party that is practical and serious, he added.
He also slammed Bayit Yehudi predecessor the National Religious Party because its ministers did not quit over the Gaza disengagement, but waited to get fired. He said that Bayit Yehudi "should try to be more modest."
Liberman expressed respect for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but admitted that there were disagreements during Operation Protection Edge.
"The correct thing to do is not start a war if you're not going to destroy Hamas. If you start, don't stop until you succeed," he said.
He said that the failure to defeat Hamas during the 50 day war emboldened the organization together with the Islamic Jihad, which spurred the groups to carry out recent terror attacks in Jerusalem.
Speaking on a possible future coalition, Liberman rejected the notion that he had to choose between Netanyahu's Likud, or the Labor party under the leadership of Isaac Herzog. He called on both of the leaders to be in a coalition together, with Liberman himself as prime minister.
He called for a broad national unity government after the elections, with almost all of the Zionist parties in the coalition. Liberman said that such a government could help deal with the issues of war and peace that are presenting "unprecedented challenges" to Israel.
Liberman reiterated his belief that Israel should look to sign a regional agreement with moderate Arab states, rather than an agreement solely with the Palestinians.
He said that the agreement must solve the three dimensions of the conflict: the Arab world, the Palestinians and the Israeli Arabs.
"I know people prefer to be quiet about Israeli Arabs and bury their heads in the sand, but we can't run away from the issue," he said.
He said that both Muslims and Jews must show loyalty to the state, or lose their citizenship.
Liberman compared Israeli Arabs who mark Israeli Independence Day as the "Nakba," or catastrophe, to haredim who refuse to observe a moment of silence during the siren on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
He said that Umm al-Fahm, an Arab city in the Wadi Ara region of central Israel should be part of a Palestinian state in a land swap.
Liberman vowed that the state would help and fairly treat minorities who choose to be Israeli citizens.
Liberman said that he believes Israel should now take the initiative in the peace process and take advantage of the fact the many moderate Arab states see that they have common interests with Israel.