At first glance, the man who has advocated the execution of Arab members of the Knesset and the bombing of Egypt's Aswan Dam may seem an unlikely choice for what is arguably Israel's most sensitive security job.
But Avigdor Lieberman, a far-right politician known for his strong anti-Arab and authoritarian views, is about to take up the new post of Minister for Strategic Threats, marking a huge leap forward in Israeli politics.
By striking a coalition pact that also leaves him as a deputy to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Mr Lieberman, the burly 49-year-old head of the Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) party, is filling a political vacuum created by Ariel Sharon's incapacitation from a stroke last year. His appointment also comes after Israel's failure to win a clear victory in its war with Hezbollah, and public malaise over a series of scandals involving the largely ceremonial but symbolically important president and other mainstream political figures.
The new security post gives Mr Lieberman, who immigrated from Moldova in 1978 and lives in the West Bank settlement of Nokdim, responsibility for the co-ordination of intelligence branches and other powers that were formerly the prerogative of Israel's defence minister, Amir Peretz.
Mr Lieberman says his motives for joining the government are to confront dire strategic threats facing Israel. 'The state of Israel faces a united front of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. The entire foreign and security and internal security policy of Israel must provide an answer to this situation,' he said during a recent interview with the HaZofeh newspaper.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction, and Iran's nuclear aspirations are widely seen within Israel as the country's greatest strategic challenge.