As a coalition agreement with Yisrael Beytenu appears imminent, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) spoke out on Thursday about his likely successor and the emerging deal that would transfer the Defense Ministry from Ya’alon to Avigdor Liberman.

Speaking at a conference for the IDF’s Nahal infantry units, Ya’alon blasted his critics and made thinly veiled references to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the decision to hand over the Defense Ministry to Liberman.

“The [leadership’s] moral compass has been lost regarding basic issues, issues that to me are quite obvious,” said Ya’alon.

Ya’alon hinted that Israel’s political leadership had abandoned good judgment in favor of short-term political gain.

“Even if it appears that [doing the right thing] will cost you in the short-run – [if they say] this isn’t popular, this isn’t populist, the polls say so – I don’t believe in that. Our former president once said ‘Polls are like perfume, they smell nice, and then dissipate quickly.’ Following a [moral] compass is still the right way to [lead], and it’s also a question of leadership.”

“What is leadership? To go along with worshipping the golden calf? There’s so many examples in history of this kind of thing, so if I would need to give some ‘golden’ advice, it would be to not permit golden calves, but to go according to a moral compass.”