'We can't stay together'; if you need to ask if you're successful or not, you failed; after the Six Day War, no one asked if Israel was successful.(Avigdor Lieberman)(Interview)

Byline: Kevin Peraino

Avigdor Lieberman is one of the most controversial figures in Israeli politics. Critics deride the 48-year-old founder of the far-right Israel Beitenu ("Israel Is Our Home") party as a "racist" and a "fascist" for his proposal to redraw Israel's borders to exclude some Israeli Arab villages. But his popularity is also growing among some segments of the population, particularly among fellow Russian immigrants in the Katyusha-ravaged north. A postwar poll in Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper showed that 18 percent of those questioned thought Lieberman would be the best prime minister, placing him second only to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 22 percent. Lieberman spoke with NEWSWEEK's Kevin Peraino last week at a hotel near Tel Aviv. Excerpts:

PERAINO: Do you think the war was successful? If not, what went wrong?

LIEBERMAN: If you need to ask somebody if you're successful or not, then you failed. After the Six Day War, nobody asked Israel whether we were successful or not successful. Today, if it's not clear enough who is the winner and who is the loser, then you are the loser. I can't say we are losers, but we are not winners. And the very deep internal dispute after this war is a more serious result than even the military result.

What do you mean by that?

The society is divided. Politicians must be controversial. But the soldiers who came back from the war, and the parents, and people who never were involved in politics--you can feel their protests. They're not just the political leadership. It's a bad situation.

Is it just a problem with the political leadership, or do you think it's something bigger?