Yisrael Beiteinu - Perception

Perception

A number of mainstream media sources, within and outside of Israel, have labelled the party, and Lieberman, as right wing and even far right or ultra nationalist. At the same time however, the party does recognize a two-state solution and it is a secular Party, with some of its particular religious policies described as "ultra liberal". These positions are contradictory to the tradition of both nationalistic and religious right wing politics in Israel. Some have called the party and its leader a "hard-line" or "self-styled" populist.

While various Arab and world media and politicians accused the party and its leader of being a fascist and racist, a number of Israeli media and politicians tend to disagree, and some even offered praise on occasion. For example, Kadima's Minister of Finance Roni Bar-On said "It's a Jewish party, Zionist and serious." The party phenomenon was explained by Gershom Gorenberg:

Lieberman is not a right-winger, because he’s talking about giving up land. In fact, he’s even willing to give up land from sovereign Israel. I think one of the reasons people say Lieberman is in the center is that they don’t realize he has, in effect, redefined the terms.

In a February 2009 address considered to be directed at the Obama administration, Avigdor Lieberman stated that Yisrael Beiteinu was neither far-right, nor ultra-nationalist.

Yehuda Ben-Meir wrote in the left-wing Haaretz that he did not and would not ever vote for Lieberman. He also criticized the delegitimizing and demonizing of both the right and the left:

Lieberman is neither a racist nor a fascist, and depicting him as such does an injustice to his voters and harm to Israel.
What's racist is denying the Jewish people a state of their own. Certain Arab Knesset members talk incessantly about the Palestinian people's rights, including their own state. But in the same breath they refuse to acknowledge Israel as the state of the Jewish people and deny the very existence of a Jewish people as a nation with national rights...
Just as we must condemn right wingers' attempts to cast doubt over the patriotism of Yossi Beilin and his fellow subscribers to the Geneva Initiative – provocative as this plan might be to most Israelis – we must condemn the left's lamentable habit of denigrating Lieberman. The idea to change the state's borders in a peace agreement may not be practical or implementable in our circumstances, but we cannot deny its legitimacy and sense. And in any case, it has nothing to do with racism. Lieberman has said publicly that he supports the principle of establishing a Palestinian state.

According to Time.com, many Russian immigrants are attracted to the ideas of Lieberman's party. It also notes that analysts say that at this time "the dreary prospects for peace, and recent terrorist attacks inflicted by Israeli Arabs" have contributed to Lieberman's popularity among other segments of Israeli society.